The Labyrinth of London: Up or Down?
by FarGreenCountrySwiftSunrise
Summary: Jareth is running out of time to stop Moriarty from destroying everything Jareth has built. Soon, Jareth will face the choice when he falls "up or down". TW: Suicide.
1. Chapter I: A Good Old Fashion Villain

The Labyrinth of London

Up or Down?

A Sherlock/Labyrinth Crossover

Inspired By

"The Thin White Sleuth…"

By

Pika-la-Cynique

Summary: Jareth is running out of time to stop Moriarty from destroying everything Jareth has built. Soon, Jareth will face the choice when he falls "up or down". TW: Suicide.

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat and Gatiss and Thompson,

Henson and Doyle,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

Trigger Warning: This story contains suicides with a more graphic description of violence than I usually have written for this series.

Chapter I: A Good Old Fashion Villain

&%&%&%

"Should I be insulted that you are reading the newspaper rather than paying attention to me?" Jareth asked.

Sarah and Jareth were at Russell Square having a picnic on Sarah's insistence, despite the brisk temperature of the day. Jareth was resting his head on Sarah's lap as she read a newspaper.

"Boffin' Jareth King," Sarah said, "What does 'boffin'' even mean?"

"A scientist or nerd," Jareth said, "That's my nickname? Boffin'. Not 'handsome' or 'intriguing'."

"I assume that is just a given," Sarah said.

"Do you have one? A nickname or moniker or something?" Jareth asked.

Sarah flipped through the newspaper to the rest of the article. "'His always faithful Sarah Williams'. Really? That's all they can say about me?"

"You are faithful," Jareth said.

Sarah leaned down and kissed Jareth, causing him to smile. "Jareth, you need to be more careful."

"Why ever so?" Jareth asked.

"You are very, very close to being famous in the human world and that may cause people to want to investigate you," Sarah said.

"I'm not close to being famous," Jareth said.

Sarah folded up her newspaper. "Let's see, you found that Turner piece in January."

"_Falls of the Reichenbach _is over rated. I don't understand why everyone was so excited about it," Jareth said.

"You brought that banker back to his family," Sarah said.

Jareth shrugged. "Scotland Yard would have figured it out eventually. Even they couldn't miss it."

"But you were able to find a connection to Peter Ricoletti and he's been number one on Interpol's Most Wanted list since forever. I mean, even Donovan and Anderson were impressed," Sarah said.

Jareth pouted. "They got me the hat. It was awful."

"They were teasing you in a nice way. That means they don't hate you," Sarah said, smiling slightly, "Besides, you look quite sexy in that hat."

Jareth continued sulking. "It's cliché. I am not some hardboiled 30's detective."

"You're right. You don't have the trench coat for that. Maybe I'll get you that for Christmas…"

Jareth pinned Sarah to the ground. "Don't you dare Sarah."

"Make me," Sarah said, smirking.

Jareth grinned and kissed Sarah, his left arm wrapped around her waist and his right tangled in her hair. Sarah kept both her hands cupping Jareth's face and gently pushed him back.

"Just be careful, Jareth. The press will turn. They always turn; they'll turn on you."

Jareth rested his forehead against Sarah's. "Precious, does it bother you?"

"People thinking you're good at what you do? No."

"I meant the famous part. I know you don't like being recognized as Linda Williams' daughter and how much you were harassed with the Jeremy…"

"You're not my mother, Jareth. Just try to keep a low profile. Find yourself a little case this week. Stay out of the news," Sarah said.

"Dull," Jareth said, rolling his eyes. He smiled at Sarah. "But I will do my best, precious."

"Weren't you working on some sort of suicide case before we left?" Sarah asked.

After a brief kiss, Jareth pulled Sarah up to a sitting position. He stroked her hair. "You are going to be late for work, precious."

Sarah began packing up the picnic. "You didn't answer my question, Jareth. When one comes home and there is a mannequin hanging from the ceiling, one wants an explanation."

"Henry Fishgard never committed suicide," Jareth said, "The Bow Street Runners missed everything."

"Weren't they London's first police force?" Sarah asked. She handed Jareth the messenger bag containing the remnants of their picnic.

Jareth took the bag and then pulled Sarah to her feet. "Yes. They were founded in 1749 and disbanded in 1839."

"I am glad you took such a pressing case," Sarah said.

"They are all pressing until they are solved," Jareth said.

Sarah bit her lower lip before speaking. "Remind you of the old days, cradle robber?"

"Oh yes, grave robber," Jareth said with a smirk. He gave a quick kiss to Sarah. "Come on. You have patients. I have none."

Sarah gently smacked Jareth's chest. "That's not punny."

Jareth pulled Sarah's red and white stripped hat out of her coat pocket and pulled it down on her head to cover her eyes. "I am very punny."

Sarah pulled on the hat to see before wrapping an arm around Jareth's waist. "Mine."

Jareth put his arm around Sarah's shoulder as he kissed the side of her head. "Mine."

&%&%&%

"You have a patient you are not telling me about," Jareth said as they neared St. Bart's.

"I don't tell you everything about my patients," Sarah said.

"Not every incident, but you are completely avoiding talking about one patient. Your times don't match up," Jareth said.

"There are some things I can't tell you," Sarah said, "If it was something that directly affected you, I would tell you immediately."

"So it is someone I know," Jareth said.

"You have never met this person," Sarah said.

"But it is someone I could identify and it would not be a good idea to say who it is," Jareth said.

"Yes," Sarah said, "I mean you walk me to and from Bart's since Moriarty showed up again. You are obviously worried about me being followed."

"Maybe I just like walking with you," Jareth said.

"Maybe you are worried," Sarah said, "I do like going with you. It's nice to talk without worrying about a case most of the time."

"I like it as well," Jareth said.

They stopped in front of the employee entrance of the hospital. Sarah pulled Jareth down for a kiss.

"Hmmm… Have a good day at work, precious," Jareth said. He gently nipped Sarah's lower lip, causing her to shiver.

"Have fun solving your cases. I have to go. It's almost eleven," Sarah said.

Jareth kissed Sarah again before walking away to catch a cab.

&%&%&%

"How are you, Tristan?" Sarah asked the nine year old half-Fae/half-human patient.

"Miserable. You're the only fun nurse," Tristan said as he flipped through the TV channels.

"Even if I do give you insulin shots?" Sarah asked.

"Even then," Tristan said.

"All right. You know the routine," Sarah said.

Sarah quickly finished giving the insulin and then ruffled Tristan's dark hair. "You're doing good kid. I have some news for you: you can go home tomorrow."

"Grandma will be happy to hear that," Tristan said, "She was freaked when I got sick. Fae don't get sick."

"True, but you're not full Fae. When you get older, you will have all of the Fae healing abilities. Until then, you are going to have to keep checking your sugar levels and taking insulin. Will you promise me that you'll take care of yourself when I'm not here to keep an eye on you?" Sarah said.

"Yes, Nurse Williams," Tristan said.

"Good. Now, let me clean this up and…"

"Don't move, Ms. Williams," a male voice said from behind Sarah. She could see Tristan's eyes become wide with fear.

Sarah whispered, "Fill the needle with insulin."

Raising her hands, Sarah said in a calm voice, "What do you want?"

"Turn around Ms. Williams," a second male voice said.

Sarah did, making sure to block the men's view of Tristan grabbing the needle and insulin. She saw that one of the men was a full Fae and the other was human with tattoos peeking out from under his dress shirt and jacket._ No masks. Not good._

"What do you want?" Sarah asked again. She said as quietly as possible, "I wish the goblins would come right now."

"We want the two of you to come quietly. Our boss needs the boy and the boy needs a nurse," the Fae said.

"He needs a hospital. I doubt you have everything my patient needs," Sarah said.

"We have…"

Someone began to open the door to the hospital room and the human shot at the door knob. A scream was heard and Sarah could hear a small panic start outside of the room.

"Guess we'll have to shoot our way out," the human said with a smirk.

"Idiot," the Fae said, "If you don't come with us, Ms. Williams, we will shoot you and grab another nurse on our way out."

"Do you have a wheelchair? If not, one of you is going to have to carry the child and I'll carry the saline," Sarah said, "May I please begin preparations to move the patient?"

The Fae nodded while the human began to move towards the nurse and the patient. "Close your eyes," Sarah whispered to Tristan.

Sarah moved Tristan's blanket to grab the syringe full of insulin. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw a crystal pop into the room and roll towards the Fae. The human kidnapper had just holstered his gun when the crystal exploded with a loud boom and a flash of light. Sarah was temporarily blind and deaf. She made an accurate guess as to wear the human was and she stabbed him in the neck with the needle, putting a full syringe of insulin into the man's system. She kicked the man's feet out from under him.

Her vision cleared some and Sarah saw goblins begin to attack the kidnappers as well as someone walking into the room. She put up her fists and took a firm stance. A crystal brushed past Sarah's head causing her vision and hearing to return to normal. Jareth was standing a foot from her with one hand holding a crystal and the other held palm up.

"Sarah, we need to move the child," Jareth said.

Sarah nodded and unhooked the saline drip. She carried it while Jareth picked up Tristan.

"Keep your eyes closed, Tristan," Sarah said again. She flinched at the screams that started to come from the kidnappers.

The nurses tried to direct Jareth to another hospital room, but a sharp look from him and a nod of assurance from Sarah allowed them to pass. They took the elevator to the floor with the library. Once they reached a reading area, Jareth placed Tristan in a chair. Sarah passed the saline drip to Jareth.

"I'll go get a pole so we don't have to keep holding this. Is there someone…"

"This is the patient you would not speak with me about, correct?" Jareth said.

"Yes," Sarah said.

"Your name is Tristan?" Jareth asked.

Tristan nodded.

"I am sure his Grandmother will be here soon," Jareth said, "Do get the pole though. I am sure it will be easier on all of us. You are permitted to open your eyes, Tristan."

Sarah nodded and quickly ran off to get some equipment. When she returned, Tristan seemed to be fascinated by something Jareth was telling him. Sarah silently took care of the drip bag.

"Do you solve mysteries with Lord Jareth?" Tristan asked Sarah.

"Sometimes, yes," Sarah said.

"I thought there might have been another detective. I didn't think you were grand enough to go adventuring with a former king," Tristan said.

"Things are not always what they seem, young prince. The sooner you learn that, the wiser you will become," Jareth said, "If you will excuse me for a moment."

After taking a few steps away, Jareth gave a long kiss to Sarah. Tristan made a gagging sound.

"You're not hurt?" he asked as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Fine. How did you know I was in trouble?" Sarah asked.

Jareth gave Sarah a tight squeeze. He moved away and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. After a few taps on his phone, Jareth held it up for Sarah to read. "Come and play. Tower Hill. Jim Moriarty x."

"Tower Hill? As in the Tower of London? Does he want to play in the torture dungeons or something?" Sarah asked.

"No. He tried to steal the Crown Jewels," Jareth said, "Lestrade called me to tell me that the Tower, the Bank of London, and Pentonville Prison were all being breached. All of the security, both human and magical, is down for those places. I then received this text. I knew he would come after you, but I can now see he was also trying to steal young Tristan."

"Moriarty? That fellow who bested you?" Tristan asked.

Jareth said, "He did not best me. I defeated all of his puzzles and he decided to take a break from his… game."

"I know that Tristan has an important grandmother, but I don't know who it is," Sarah said.

"That would be me, Champion," a female voice said.

Sarah and Jareth both turned to the voice. Though Sarah had never seen her, she knew who it was. "A great and terrible beauty" Jareth had once described her. Sarah's heart was struck cold and she wanted to both run to and run from the dark haired woman who stood before her. The woman radiated power and dark promises.

"Your majesty," Jareth said with a brief bow.

Sarah made an awkward curtsy in her scrubs. "The High Queen of the Unseelie Court, I presume," Sarah said.

"You presume correctly, Champion. You may call me your majesty, Queen Mab, or ma'am," the woman said, "How do you fair, Tristan?"

"I'm okay, Grandma," Tristan said, "Did you know Nurse Williams solves cases with Lord Jareth?"

"I did," Queen Mab said. She moved to her grandson, her black dress flowing smoothly around her like a mist. She placed her hand on Tristan's forehead. "You seem much better."

"I am. Nurse Williams says I can go home tomorrow," Tristan said.

"Did she?" Queen Mab said.

Tristan nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. She made sure the bad guys weren't going to hurt me. She stabbed one of them with a needle."

"You were supposed to keep your eyes closed," Sarah said.

Tristan shrugged. "It was boring to do that."

"I am sorry that he saw that, ma'am," Sarah said.

"His nightmares will be punishment enough," Queen Mab said. She stroked her grandson's hair absent mindedly. "Are you aware of who tried to steal my grandson, Champion?"

"Apparently Jim Moriarty," Sarah said.

The Unseelie Queen furrowed her brow at that name until Jareth said, "The Gremlin King."

"That is quite an accusation to be placed against one of my subjects, Lord Jareth," Queen Mab said.

"It is one I would not make lightly, but it is the truth," Jareth said, "He did try to take your grandson. To what end, I can only guess."

Queen Mab hummed in agreement. "He has been quarrelsome in his short reign. I will look into it."

"If you wish to speak with him, you will have to go through human authorities. He has broken into several of their most secure places and they will want to punish him," Jareth said.

"I shall take care of it once my grandson is comfortable," Queen Mab said.

&%&%&%

Much later, the Unseelie Queen permitted Jareth and Sarah to attend to the investigation on Moriarty led by Lestrade. Jareth made sure Sarah was by his side at all times, only letting go of Sarah's hand when they reached the security room at the Tower.

Lestrade showed them security footage from the tower. Jim Moriarty stayed with the crown jewels when the alarms went off and the vault closed. He knocked out a guard with gas. The Gremlin King wrote something on the glass in front of the crown jewels before sticking some gum onto the glass. He broke the glass with a fire extinguisher. Moriarty then sat on the throne wearing the crown and other symbols of state until he was arrested.

"Well that's a statement," Sarah said, "I thought the glass was bullet proof. It should not have broken that easily.

"You are right on that. It isn't normal glass. That glass is tougher than anything," Lestrade said.

"It is not tougher than crystallized carbon. He used a diamond," Jareth said, "It is not even a trick. It is just science."

Lestrade then showed another angle of the incident showing what Jim Moriarty had written on the glass. It had been written backwards so it could be read correctly from the angle of this camera. "GET JARETH."

"That's why I'm showing you this. Any idea why he would write that when stealing some of the most valuable objects in England?" Lestrade asked.

"I don't know but from what I saw and know, he let himself be caught. I just don't know exactly why," Jareth said.

"What do you know?" Lestrade asked.

"He's showing off a new trick," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

Puck was having tea with Mrs. Hudson when Sarah and Jareth returned from Tower Hill. "What are you doing here?" Jareth asked.

"Having tea with Mrs. Hudson, of course," Puck said, "However, there is also this." Puck stood up from Mrs. Hudson's table and handed Jareth and Sarah each a rolled up piece of paper. "You have been served. I will be seeing you in a week."

With a brief good-bye to Mrs. Hudson, Puck disappeared. Sarah unrolled her piece of paper and squinted at the writing. "Sorry, but Toby is the LOTR geek, not me. I don't read Sindarian."

"It is Fae writing," Jareth said, "It is from a completely different language family than Professor Tolkien's languages. Damn. I was hoping they would not include you."

"For what?" Sarah asked.

"We have both been called to testify against the Gremlin King in front of the High Court," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

A/N: There have been reasons for all that back story on the Courts…

I have changed the time table on the trial because I thought you as readers would prefer more side stories of Jareth and Sarah being in fluffy situations.

MORIARTY! This was the time while watching the series I went, "You know what, he may be a villain, but he certainly has style."


	2. Chapter II: Even If You Reach the Center

Chapter II: Even If You Reach the Center

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

Sarah said, "Remember what they told you: don't try to be clever..."

"It is not possible for me to stop." Jareth was adjusting his green scarf in the hallway to the front door of 221 Baker Street.

"...and please, just keep it simple and brief." Sarah said as she began to slip on her coat. Jareth helped her.

"God forbid the star witness at the trial should come across as intelligent."

"'Intelligent', fine; let's give 'smart-ass' a wide berth." She flipped her hair out of her coat, smacking Jareth in the face on purpose.

"I'll just be my usual, charming self."

Sarah spun around. "Are you listening to me?"

Jareth leaned forward and gave Sarah a quick peck on the lips. "You look quite lovely in that skirt."

"That would be a no then," Sarah said with a sigh.

"I will tell the truth, Sarah, though I cannot promise that it will be a sweet truth. Would you want me to do anything else?"

"No."

Jareth rested his head on Sarah's shoulder and sighed. "I am sorry you have to deal with this."

She patted his back a few times. "I've dealt with worse. Come on. We need to go."

Jareth popped up his coat collar before Sarah opened the door. The camera flashes were not as bad as when they were at night, but they were still distracting. The journalists were trying to get a quote or a good photo. Sarah had finished locking the door to 221 Baker Street and was politely but firmly making the reporters move out of the way so they could get to the car Mycroft had sent.

When they were no longer being followed, Jareth gave a long kiss to Sarah. "You are fantastic, precious. You know I have no patience with those… news hounds."

"As long as you do the same for me in the Courts, I'll call it even," Sarah said.

&%&%&%

Unlike the High Court (which would take place a day after the human trial), Sarah was not a witness but Jareth was. Sarah sat in the public gallery upstairs in the Old Bailey, Court Ten. Jareth was in the witness box. Moriarty was in the dock opposite Jareth. Jim chewed a piece of gum throughout the trial. Jareth had already been questioned for several minutes when the trial became interesting.

"A 'consulting criminal'," the prosecutor said.

"Yes," Jareth replied.

"Your words. Can you expand on that answer?" the prosecutor asked.

"James Moriarty is for hire," Jareth said.

"A tradesman?"

"Yes."

"But not the sort who'd fix your heating."

"No, he is the sort who would plant a bomb or stage an assassination, but I am sure he would make a pretty decent job of your boiler."

The people in the court tried not to laugh, including the prosecutor.

"Would you describe him as..."

"Leading," Jareth interrupted.

"What?" the prosecutor said, surprised at the interruption.

"You cannot do that. You are leading the witness. The defending barrister will object and the judge will uphold," Jareth said. _There will be nothing out of place. If we are to catch him, all courts, even human, must find him guilty with no flaws._

"Mr. King," the judge said, obviously exasperated.

Jareth returned his attention to the prosecutor. "Ask me how. How would I describe him? What opinion have I formed of him? Do they not teach you this?"

"Mr. King, we're fine without your help," the Judge said.

"How would you describe this man – his character?" the prosecutor asked.

"That is your first mistake," Jareth said, turning his attention to his nemesis. "I have met many strange… things in my time and he is unlike any other. James Moriarty is not a man at all – he is a spider; a spider at the center of a web – a criminal web with a thousand threads and he knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances."

Moriarty seemed pleased with description and gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head towards Jareth.

The prosecutor broke the staring contest between Jareth and Moriarty. "And how long..."

"That is really not a good question," Jareth said, resisting pinching the bridge of his nose from the stupidity of the question.

The judge said sternly, "Mr. King."

"How long have I known Moriarty? That is not really your best line of enquiry. We met twice, five minutes in total. He tried to blow up my partner and myself." This was true. Jareth knew James Doyle for a little less than six hours when James was three years old and a few minutes when James was eleven. He had only talked to Moriarty for five minutes.

"Miss Sorrel, are you seriously claiming this man is an expert, after knowing the accused for just five minutes?" the judge said to the prosecutor.

"Two minutes would have made me an expert. Five was ample," Jareth said.

"Mr. King, that's a matter for the jury," the Judge said.

"Oh, really?" Jareth said. He turned towards the jury, catching sight of Sarah making a "I-will-kill-you" gesture. "One librarian; two teachers; three high-pressured jobs, probably the City. The foreman is a medical secretary, trained abroad judging by her shorthand."

"Mr. King!" the judge said.

"Seven are married and two are having an affair – with each other, it would seem. Oh, and they have just had tea and biscuits. Would you like to know who ate the wafer?"

The judge was beginning to turn red. "Mr. King. You've been called here to answer Miss Sorrel's questions, not to give us a display of your intellectual prowess."

Jareth could barely hold back his smirk, even when he saw Sarah glaring at him.

The judge continued. "Keep your answers brief and to the point. Anything else will be treated as contempt. Do you think you could survive for just a few minutes without showing off?"

_Well…_

&%&%&%

_… No._

Jareth was escorted to a temporary holding cell. He saw Moriarty put into the other as the court had called a recess. There was a wall between them. The metal doors had eye slits that shut from the outside so guards could look in.

A minute or so after the guards left, Moriarty spoke. "I am quite flattered that you think so well of me, Goblin King."

Jareth did not respond.

"I really thought you would work harder on finding me, but your pet seems to keep you occupied, doesn't she? Congratulations. I noticed you are wearing her necklace. Fae favors. Big step for you breaking your defiant little girl."

Silence.

"Really, do you like the sound of my voice that much?"

Silence.

"Ah. Well enough. Why are you even bothering with this farce? Do you really think that a human court could do anything? Particularly after what I have done?"

"No."

"Ah. He speaks. Why then?"

"Because when I kill you, it will be in the knowledge that I made sure that justice failed through all other means."

"That would make your pet sad."

"She wants to kill you more than I do, James. She would be cheering for me."

"Your little nurse cheering on someone's death? Hard to believe."

"Everyone forgets how cruel a Champion of the Labyrinth is. That is why they always win."

Moriarty let out a huff. "I doubt she'll make it through the Courts unscathed."

Jareth said nothing because he knew that Moriarty had a point.

&%&%&%

As Jareth signed for his personal property, Sarah stood with him, leaning her back against the desk.

"What did I say? I said, 'Don't get clever.'"

"I cannot just turn it on and off like a tap," Jareth said.

Jareth received the bag of his personal effects and quickly took out the jade pendant. Sarah, still upset but still Jareth's love, helped him put it on. He smiled slightly as Sarah brushed her thumbs under his ears before starting to walk out of the building. Jareth followed.

"Well?" Jareth asked.

"Well what?" Sarah asked.

"You were there for the whole thing up in the gallery from start to finish," Jareth said.

"Like you said it would be; the defense sat on his butt the whole time," Sarah said.

"Moriarty is not mounting any defense," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

They were back in 221b before they discussed the case again.

"Bank of England, Tower of London, Pentonville. Three of the most secure places in the country and a week ago Moriarty breaks in and no one knows how or why," Sarah said.

Jareth began to pace as Sarah curled up in Jareth's preferred armchair.

"All we know is he ended up in custody," Sarah said. She glared at Jareth. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Jareth asked.

"The look."

"Look?"

"You're doing the look again."

"Well, I can't see it, can I?"

Sarah pointed to the mirror on the wall. Jareth looked and saw nothing out of place. "It's my face. My very handsome face as you often tell me."

Jareth could see Sarah rolling her eyes, but she was also smiling slightly. "Yes, and it's doing a thing. You're doing a 'we both know what's really going on here' face."

"Well, we do," Jareth said with no hint of sarcasm.

"No. I don't, which is why I find the face so annoying."

Jareth went to Sarah and they moved around enough to allow Sarah to sit on Jareth's lap. He kissed her forehead before continuing. "If Moriarty wanted the Jewels, he would have them. If he wanted those prisoners free, they would be out on the streets. If he really wanted Tristan and you, you would both be lost. The only reason he is still in a prison cell right now is because he chose to be there. Somehow this is part of his scheme."

&%&%&%

Jareth was not allowed to return to the courtroom so he remained at home, sulking on the sofa. He only missed two things. The first he knew absolutely and it was that Jim Moriarty would not bother with a defense. The second he wished desperately against, but he knew this type of wish had no one he could call upon.

"Not guilty. All that evidence and no defense, and they let him walk," Sarah said as she paced 221b.

"Not quite and you know that," Jareth said.

"When are we supposed to be going? Is anyone watching that little weasel right now?" Sarah asked.

"I already have sent him ahead," Mycroft Holmes said as he entered 221b. He was carrying a briefcase along with his umbrella.

"Mr. Umbrella, why are you visiting?" Sarah asked.

"I am here to escort the two of you to the High Court," Mycroft said.

Jareth was impressed. Mycroft was barely flinching from the nickname now.

"I am not packed," Sarah said.

"As I am sure Jareth told you, you will have no need to pack anything besides some food, which I have already taken care of for you upon Jareth's, for once, wise advice. We can't have another peach incident, can we?" Mycroft said, glancing over at Jareth.

"This won't take long?" Sarah asked.

"Three days at most, but you have nothing appropriate for the Courts," Mycroft said.

"Good to know," Sarah said.

Jareth stood up and wrapped an arm around Sarah. "Things have become more serious since you first asked me about the High Court's proceedings. I was caught up with the Moriarty problem."

Sarah nodded and gave a weary sigh. She was tired already from the two days in mortal court. _James might be right. Maybe she… no. She is Sarah. That alone would make her hard to wear down. A Champion of the Labyrinth? She is unbreakable._

"So, he gets to bring an umbrella and I can't even have a clutch full of, I don't know, pepper spray or cold iron or something?" Sarah said, smirking a little.

"Take what you would need if you went to visit your friends for a few hours. Everything else will be provided," Jareth said.

Sarah nodded and kissed Jareth's cheek before she grabbed her purse and went to her room. Jareth looked over to Mycroft who was tapping his umbrella.

"I teased Ms. Williams when we first met about when a happy announcement would be made. It appears I have been proved correct," Mycroft said, "I had most of the bugs removed in the flat a little afterwards, just so you know."

"Is that your way of saying 'Congratulations Jareth'?"

"No. That is my way of telling you that Sarah values her privacy and I am giving that gift to her as much as can be allowed under the circumstances you have put her under," Mycroft said.

"Privacy? You?" Jareth said, not quite believing what Mycroft was saying.

"Not complete privacy," Mycroft said. He glanced down at his briefcase. "Caring is not an advantage, but sometimes… Sherlock speaks of her in neutral terms and occasionally even praise. You have become in many ways less of a nuisance to me, though she does encourage you in areas I find… undesirable for one such as yourself. My opinion of you has not changed."

Jareth nodded, understanding the implications of Mycroft's statement. _Sherlock thinks that Sarah is worthy of some sort of attention. Overall, I do not disagree with this thought. You did almost kill my brother on more than one occasion. If I were a more passionate man, I would turn you into a goblin suit, use your intestines for Christmas decorations, and your teeth as a necklace. However, I am not and still find you useful partially due to the woman who Sherlock thinks is worthy of some sort of attention. Rinse and repeat._

"I have also requested that you be allowed unlimited access to your natural goblin magic while we are at the Courts. It has been approved," Mycroft said.

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why ever would you do that?"

"I would rather not have to explain to the High King and High Queen of the Seelie Court why there brother is dead because he could not use a simple deflection spell," Mycroft said.

Sarah came back with a messenger bag that seemed to be holding mostly books and personal supplies. "Ready," Sarah said.

"Through the mirror, Alice," Mycroft said.

&%&%&%

Something went wrong when they transported and Jareth no longer felt in control of where they were going. They should have arrived at the Goblin Kingdom. Instead, they ended up on a path that Jareth did not recognize.

Jareth slammed hard into the ground before taking the brunt of Sarah's impact, lessening the pain for her but not for him. He quickly rolled the both of them over as he did not know the exact nature of the situation they were in and he could at least shield Sarah if they were surrounded by enemies.

Taking in his surroundings, Jareth realized he recognized the place. He was in the private meeting chambers of the High Court. The High King and the High Queen were both in their seats with about half a dozen retainers surrounding them.

Somehow, Mycroft arrived relatively unscathed, though he landed flat on his bum. He stood up with quiet grace before giving a polite (but not overly reverent) bow. "Your majesties."

Jareth stood up and brought Sarah along with him. His shoulders were rather rudely sending him "don't move" pain signals. He ignored it and bowed deeply. "Your majesties."

Sarah bowed as well, still slightly confused from the impact of the change in destination.

"Queen Titania and I welcome to the High Court," Oberon said.

&%&%&%

A/N: Ah, we have arrived at the High Court.


	3. Chapter III: Down in the Underground

Chapter III: Down in the Underground

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

Sarah was certain that Jareth was going to do something very rash if he stayed in the presence of Oberon and Titania for too long. From what she understood from Jareth's mumbo-jumbo on portal traveling, the High King and High Queen did something very dangerous. Mycroft seemed undisturbed by events, but then, Jareth was not directly annoying Mycroft which was the only time Sarah saw any emotion besides smug amusement. _Well, maybe the Irene file, but that was a different scenario entirely._

"Have the other three rulers arrived?" Jareth asked.

"The High Queen of the Unseelie Court has not arrived but the Seelie Court has," Queen Titania said, "Champion of the Labyrinth, do you have any questions like your… partner does?"

Sarah could almost feel that Titania wanted to slight Sarah, but she was not sure why. "None come to mind, ma'am. I am sure you will make sure we are situated."

Something was skittering around the edge of Sarah's mind. She had a silly thought play out in her head. Sarah was in the Labyrinth in the endless corridor. Turning around to an unseen entity she said, "Even if you reach the center, you'll never make it out again, so back off!"

Oberon's indifference to Sarah suddenly turned to a sharp examination. Sarah realized to both her horror and amusement, she had just yelled at the High King of the Underground. Actually, it was more smug pride but she would feign innocence if asked.

"You are dismissed," the High King said.

Appropriate bows and such were given before the three were escorted by a Fae servant through the High Court. Sarah thought it looked like Versailles if it had been overtaken by the gardens. Flowers and vines thrived but gold and marble were underneath it all. Mycroft's umbrella switched between a clean tap and an uneven crunch. Jareth seemed intent on making sure Sarah's hand did not leave his grasp, almost to the point of pain.

Mycroft was given his room, but not before promising to deliver Sarah some necessities later on that day. Next, Jareth and Sarah were taken to the Seelie Court wing. There were more people in this wing than the High Court's which meant that Sarah felt like she was on display. Jareth seemed used to it and ignored the on-lookers.

Dante came out of the living space for the Seelie Court royal family, carrying a sheathed rapier. "Hello, kinsman," Dante said, "I'm off on some business as is Father, but Mother will be more than happy to greet you."

"The Goblin King?" Jareth asked.

"She will not be able to attend until the day of her testimony," Dante said.

"As expected," Jareth said, "Enjoy your spying."

"Enjoy the cookies. Mum made them with Sarah in mind," Dante said, "You would think that she liked you, or something." Dante winked at Sarah in a way that made her realize that he was probably more like Jareth than most realized.

Jareth escorted Sarah to the sitting room where Joanna was going through letters. The Seelie Queen ran up and hugged her brother and then Sarah. "It is wonderful to see you two again, though not under the circumstances."

"Cookies?" Jareth asked.

"Ginger snaps on the blue plate and mint chocolate chip on the green plate," Joanna said.

Sarah snatched a cookie as Joanna gave a schedule of the Gremlin King's trial. Jareth was pacing by the time Joanna had finished telling him the various witnesses.

"Do you know what type of truth spell they will use?" Jareth asked.

"I do not. It has been awhile since they have allowed a human to speak openly at any High Court event," Joanna said.

"Why doesn't the king just read my mind like he tried to do earlier?" Sarah asked.

The siblings stared at her.

"What?" Sarah said.

Jareth took off his gloves and placed his hands on Sarah's head. "I need your permission to check you for harms against your mind."

"You can't use magic like that."

"Exceptions have been made for the time we are here."

After blinking a few times, Sarah said. "I give you my permission."

Sarah felt almost nothing except a slight brushing against her thoughts. She felt warm and safe, far more than she had since the human trial of Moriarty started. After a moment, Jareth wrapped an arm around Sarah's waist and let his other hand tangle in Sarah's hair, keeping her close.

He let out a sigh of relief. "You are not harmed. You should have told me sooner. Something terrible could have been done to you."

Sarah wrapped her arms around Jareth and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulders. "I'm fine, Jareth. What happened?"

"Someone was trampling into your mind and you did not think to tell me," Jareth said, tensing suddenly.

"I have… had people in my mind before and it was much more… unpleasant," Sarah said, the memories of her time in a lab coming back in flashes, "This was just a minor annoyance. He left as soon as I told him to."

"You told the High King to leave your thoughts and he did?" Joanna said.

"I don't think he wanted to. He seemed upset with me," Sarah said, "I just thought it was something they did when someone showed up in the High Court. Kind of like sweeping for bugs or something."

"No. It was a violation of the highest order," Jareth said, "I would bring this against him, but we would never be allowed to do such without great consequences."

Sarah nodded. "I am sorry to have scared you. I would have told you if I honestly thought that something had happened."

"I know, precious," Jareth said.

Sarah tilted her head and kissed Jareth, gasping into his mouth when the kiss became passionate. She heard a gagging noise from nearby.

"Unholy demons," Joanna said, "You're kissing my brother."

Jareth broke off the kiss and smirked. "Three hundred years later and I finally have my revenge."

"Yes, yes," Joanna said, "Back to the subject at hand, this is not a good sign."

"I agree," Jareth said. He rested his head against Sarah's. "This does not bode well for the trial."

"Please explain to the stupid mortal," Sarah said.

"You are not stupid, precious," Jareth said, "Mind reading is a sacred magic. It is also complicated and can easily go wrong."

"I know about the going wrong part," Sarah said, suddenly feeling very cold at old hurts she had half-forgotten.

"I do not doubt it. If the High King is checking the mind of someone he considers the pet (you) to a minor nuisance (myself), he is very insecure about something. An insecure High King leads to 'off with his head' declarations," Jareth said.

Jareth sat down on a reading chair and Sarah wrapped herself around him, knowing that he would not want her far. He stroked her hair, lost in thought.

"Sarah, has my brother been well?" Joanna asked.

"As well as can be," Sarah said.

Joanna had a strange look pass over her eyes but it quickly changed into mirth. "Is Sherlock still troubling my brother?"

"He is still a pest, yes," Jareth muttered.

Sarah smiled, seeing that Jareth was starting to readjust to the rest of the world and remove himself from his darker thoughts.

"Does your husband still have hair on his head dealing with this mess?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Joanna said, smiling, "I think he misses being able to kick goblins."

"It should be a sport in human Olympics," Rumpelstiltskin said.

Joanna was the only one not surprised by her husband's sudden appearance in the room. Rumpelstiltskin kissed his wife on the cheek before sitting with her.

"What does the High King say?" Jareth asked.

"He wants to know how a human could block a Fae's magic," Rumpelstiltskin said, "Fortunately, I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. It seems, Ms. Williams, that you have caught the attention of our High King and are considered an interesting puzzle."

There was a knock at the door.

"Speak of the devil. Come in," Joanna and Rumpelstiltskin said at the same time.

A messenger bowed to the Seelie Court Rulers. "Your majesties, an invitation for the Seelie Queen and the Lady Williams."

Joanna took the small invitation. "We accept. We will be there at the appointed time."

The messenger bowed and left.

"What did you just agree to, Jo?" Jareth said with a sigh.

"Oh, just tea with Titania," Joanna said

"Are you insane?" Jareth said.

"Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Joanna said.

"I think you are being too generous with your sanity," Rumpelstiltskin muttered. He was reward with a smack on the back of the head.

"Why would the High Queen want to see me?" Sarah asked.

"Oberon probably has a hand in this," Jareth said.

"Also, there are still bets on what really happened during Sarah's run," Joanna said.

"Bets?" Sarah asked.

"Immortals get bored," Jareth said.

"Quasi-immortals. Everything with a beginning has an ending," Rumpelstiltskin said.

Jareth seemed ready to start an augment when Joanna spoke, "We make minor bets on everything. It adds a little excitement to proceedings."

"What about my run though?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, your thoughts and feelings during the proceedings," Joanna said, "What you really knew. If you were Jareth's lover…"

"What! I didn't even know that goblins were real until Jareth arrived in a thunderstorm of glitter," Sarah said.

"Exactly, but my brother has always been a subject of speculation. It comes with the territory of being a mysterious, annoying goblin," Joanna said.

&%&%&%

"I am not bloody ready," Dante muttered as he laid out several sketch books full of fashion designs.

"Dante, language," Joanna said.

"Sorry Mum," Dante said.

"The tea invitation was unexpected. I am sure whatever you have will be just wonderful," Joanna said.

"You design clothes?" Sarah asked.

"I like art. Surprise. Surprise," Dante said, "But yes, I do design clothes. This place is worse than Versailles sometimes. Someone has to keep up."

Sarah looked over the drawings. "You designed some of Jareth's wardrobe, didn't you?"

"Don't blame me for the tights or the swagger stick. That is completely his doing," Dante said.

"Are you trying to insinuate something?" Jareth said. He was sitting by a window and playing with his newly recovered magic. His current experiment was the manipulation of colors and lights.

"That you dress like a deranged ballerina? No, of course not, Uncle Jareth," Dante said.

Sarah covered her mouth, knowing that Jareth would be hurt if he heard her laugh. "What would be appropriate, Dante?"

"What are you comfortable with?" Dante asked.

"Not whatever thing that is," Sarah said pointing to a revealing red evening dress.

"Oh, sorry. That's my attempt at a Jessica Rabbit dress," Dante said.

"As soon as I think I have heard someone from the Underground say it all…"

Joanna flipped over to several tea-length dresses. "It's in the name after all," Joanna explained.

"I don't… have an opinion," Sarah said.

"Why not?" Dante asked.

Sarah bit her lip and did not answer.

"She thinks it's silly. She lost interest in designer fashions after the Labyrinth," Jareth said. A crystal he was working with burst and turned into flower petals. "That and we are putting the mad man on trial that strapped both her brother and herself into a bomb. She does not see the point."

Sarah shot a glare at Jareth but Dante smiled. "So, as long as it's not stripper worthy or too over the top, you'll wear it?"

"Yes," Sarah said.

Dante clapped his hands and grinned. "I always enjoy having little guinea pigs for my ideas."

After comparing a few of his drawings, Dante began scribbling what looked like an equation to Sarah. A few minutes later, Dante stood up.

"This could work. Classical. A bit of Grace Kelly. A bit of garden flower. I like it. Not my best work, but it is better than your suit," Dante said.

"What's wrong with my suit?" Sarah said.

"Too stiff for the High Courts," Dante said.

"Elizabethan collars are so casual," Sarah said dryly.

"All right Cinderella. Close your eyes and spin around," Dante said.

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"Bippity boppity boo," Dante said.

Sarah rolled her eyes before doing as she was told. As she spun, she could feel her clothing change. There was silk and lace pressing against her skin instead of polyester and cotton. Her pencil skirt now spun out like a larger skirt and her kitten heels changed to flats.

"And stop," Dante said.

Sarah did but wobbled a little. Jareth came up behind Sarah to steady her. He whispered in her ear, "It matches your eyes."

Opening her eyes, Sarah was standing in front of a mirror. The tea-length dress did match her eyes. The dress was made of silk but there was a second layer of lace. It would have been sleeveless except for thin lace straps that were half-way to falling off her shoulders. The light colored silver ballet flats matched the silver belt on her waist. The only jewelry she wore was the black crystal cross.

"Well, that takes a lot of time out of shopping," Sarah said.

"It is just a type Glamour. It will fade in a few hours. Dante is having a dresses made for you for the trial," Jareth said.

"I am sorry that it is not more fantastical," Dante said, "but that would take too much time to calculate. You should go now so you are not late."

"Thank you, Dante. It is a lovely dress," Sarah said.

"You're welcome," Dante said.

&%&%&%

"What am I supposed to do? I really doubt the High Queen and I have much in common," Sarah said as she and Joanna walked to the High Queen's personal garden. Joanna's assistants and ladies-in-waiting were a few paces behind.

"Oh, we just chat about silly things like how arrogant our husbands are. I am sure Jareth has told you of our connection to Oberon," Joanna said.

"Yes," Sarah said.

"Titania is from an old line of Fae. She is supposedly related to Ishtar though I doubt that," Joanna said, "Oberon may be king, but Titania has the naturally stronger magic. Both are important if one wishes to live for an extended period of time in the Underground."

"That still does not answer my question," Sarah said.

"Talk about Jareth and the cases you work. I am not saying intimate details, but just enough for Titania to feel like she has gained some power," Joanna said.

"Some of those cases are not for polite conversation," Sarah said.

"Oh, Titania would love those," Joanna said.

&%&%&%

Titania was plain compared to other Fae. She still would be considered one of the most beautiful people in the human world but Sarah wondered how Titania caught the attention of a womanizer like Oberon.

"Did Dante make that dress for you, Champion?" Titania asked Sarah after the tea had been served.

"Yes, ma'am. I think he did a lovely job," Sarah said.

"As do I. The Rossetti children do have an eye for beauty. I compliment you, Seelie Queen, on you cultivating worthy pursuits in your children," Titania said.

"High Queen, you know that my husband has more extensive knowledge on such things," Joanna said.

"You underestimate yourself," Titania said, "Now, the real reason I called you here, how is young Jareth faring?"

"He is doing quite well, ma'am," Sarah said.

"Details, my girl. Details," Titania said.

"How gruesome?" Sarah asked.

"If I can't see the internal organs, it is not gruesome enough," Titania said.

"I do not need such details," Joanna said, turning pale.

"Ma'am, I do not know of any tales I could tell you that are not on my blog. I assume you have read them," Sarah said.

"Oh, the ones not fit for print are what I am asking for," Titania said.

"Some of those private because of our clients. The others are just too dull," Sarah said.

"Irene Adler would hardly constitute dull," Titania said.

"Multiple client's privacy in that case," Sarah said, "Besides, I don't know how the dead ex-mistress of your husband's is something you want to hear about."

Titania smiled. "She was also Jareth's lover. I am glad to know she's dead though."

"I am aware," Sarah said, "Jareth has told me about all his past liaisons. I doubt that is true with all men."

_Joanna looks like she is going to faint._

"Very true, but those pesky little relationships have a tendency to come out into the light one way or another," Titania said, "But those cases of yours, Ms. Williams."

"Does your majesty truly wish to rehear old tales?" Sarah asked.

Titania motioned to herself. "I am an old tale, Ms. Williams."

Sarah bit her lip as she tried to think of a story. "How about the speckled blonde? I think there are some details there I didn't mention on the blog."

Titania seemed pleased with the tale and Joanna looked less like she was going to pass out as the story went on. The High Queen gave a slow, polite clap at the end of the tale.

"Wonderful. Absolutely marvelous," Titania said, "But what of your other talents, Ms. Williams?"

"Talents?" Sarah asked.

"Your magic," Joanna said.

"I would need something to heal for that and I would rather no one injured themselves," Sarah said.

Titania pulled off her gloves. "I just need your hand, Ms. Williams."

Sarah turned to Joanna. The Seelie Queen seemed mildly concerned but nodded the "okay" to do as Titania asked.

When Sarah took Titania's hand, the Champion felt like a live wire. The energy emanating from the High Queen was painful and enchanting at the same time. The magic search only lasted for ten seconds, but Sarah felt exhausted when Titania pulled away.

"Interesting," Titania said.

"How so?" Joanna asked.

"You said your magic is healing based?" Titania asked.

"Yes. All of my abilities are purely healing based," Sarah said.

"Whoever told you that is mistaken," Titania said, "How long have you wanted to be a nurse?"

"I wanted to be an actress for most of my childhood, but I have wanted to help people long before that," Sarah said.

"You won parts though you had no real talent? That was not an insult to you, but I have a theory," Titania said.

"My mother is a famous actress. I assumed I won because of that," Sarah said.

"No. I must inform you, Ms. Williams, that your magic is story based. You can do just about anything you wanted with a little story," Titania said.

Joanna said, "That is a new development."

"It is a natural magic for humans. They are storytelling animals. I am just surprised it took so long for someone to notice," Titania said.

"My magic grew to useful proportions after the Labyrinth when no one was paying particular attention to me," Sarah said, "I assume that you did some sort of spell to explore my magic that is not available to humans. Jareth is the only magic based creature to even bother asking and he cannot use magic except under special circumstances."

"True. Very true," Titania said. "When my husband tried to read you, did a little story take place in your head? Just a small part of another story."

"Yes," Sarah said.

"Well, that explains it. A different magic than expected," Titania said. She gave a polite smile. "How interesting. I look forward to meeting you again, Ms. Williams. Both of you are dismissed."

&%&%&%

"Jo you let Titania explore Sarah's magic! Are you mad?" Jareth said when the women had returned from the queen's tea.

"Titania had to not view Sarah has a threat. If I said no, Titania would think we were hiding something," Joanna said. She was pinching the bridge of her nose and she was bent over in her seat.

"She could have harmed Sarah out of spite!" Jareth said.

"It was a risk worth taking. Sarah has a small amount of magic. It is not enough to cause the High Court any concern until she teamed up with you. If any of us put Sarah at risk, it was you," Joanna said.

"Whoa. Time out. Jareth may have asked me to help him, but I was the one who choose it. If anyone has put me in danger, it's me," Sarah said.

Jareth sat down next to Sarah and took her hand. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Just tired," Sarah said.

Jareth sighed and rested his head against Sarah's. "They are trying to wear you out before the trial. They want you to make a mistake."

"If I am under a truth spell, I doubt that I have much control over that," Sarah said.

&%&%&%

"I want that one for the day I testify," Sarah said to Dante.

"That one? It's not exactly imposing," Dante said.

"Not to you, but it reminds me… of something else," Sarah said.

Jareth looked over Sarah's shoulder. "I always liked that style of dress on you."

&%&%&%

The court room was a cross between a theater with multiple levels and a throne room. There was a witness stand and desks for the prosecution and defense, but at the back of the room were six thrones. When one entered, one saw: the Seelie King and Queen were on the left; the Unseelie Queen (who had ruled by herself for a century and a half) was on the right; and the High King and Queen in the center.

If it was possible, the High Court trial of the Gremlin King a.k.a. Jim Moriarty a.k.a. James Doyle was even more boring than the human trial. Sarah could barely follow along with all the laws, sub-laws, submarine laws, _Subway_ laws, side laws, upside down laws, bro code, et cetra that were being tossed around by the various legal entities. (Sarah was a bit hesitant to place a species on some of them.) Jareth was absorbed with the trial or at least with Moriarty's reactions. Jim actually seemed to take an interest in what was being said.

The first day was dedicated to basic history and the Unseelie Queen's testimony. The history was far too tangled a web for someone without five years of deep study in Underground history and Sarah wished she had Sparknotes. After the Unseelie Queen's testimony, Sarah knew for certain that she would probably rather deal with Moriarty directly again rather than be put on the wrong side of Queen Mab.

The second day was divided into three parts. The first part was dedicated to the Goblin King. That was when it became interesting.

Much to the Courts' displeasure, both gremlins and goblins showed up to watch their kings. They were hanging off the walls and hiding in cracks in the floor. Rumpelstiltskin and Jareth were resisting with all their strength not to see how far the goblins could fly when kicked in the High Court.

The looks the Goblin King received when she entered made Sarah certain that Christiana's father being one of the most powerful people in the Underground was the only reason Rossetti was not booed. The Goblin King took it in stride and made the room explode in confetti which made the goblins run around trying to eat the glittery paper.

It was about five minutes into Christiana's testimony that Moriarty interrupted her. Sarah nearly jumped out of her seat but Jareth seemed unsurprised. The two began arguing over events and no one was stopping them.

"Is this allowed?" Sarah asked.

Jareth shrugged. "It depends on who is interpreting the law on defending one's self from slander."

"So, the High King wants this to happen?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, no. He certainly does not. The High Queen has been unbelievably bored. However… in just a few… seconds…"

Moriarty then said something cutting about Sean. Christiana then insulted Moriarty's intelligence. The gremlins and goblins decided now would be a good time to fight each other. It was not a full battle and no one seemed to be getting hurt. It did cause half of the audience to run out of the auditorium and the other half to start placing bets on if the goblins or gremlins would win the fight.

"This is madness," Sarah said.

"This is politics," Jareth said.

"This is Sparta," Sarah said.

Jareth laughed but he was still keeping a close eye on Moriarty. Joanna seemed to be the only other one paying attention to Jim. The other rulers were rolling their eyes.

"Isn't anyone going to do anything about this?" Sarah asked.

"Now that is madness," Jareth said.

"They are only play fighting now. What if someone gets hurt?" Sarah said.

Jareth sighed and created two crystals. He tossed them onto the first level. One turned into a llama and the other turned into a chicken. The gremlins and goblins noticed their mascots and ran after them. The two animals ran around the court room three times before running out the main entrance with all of the goblins and gremlins evacuating the court room.

Moriarty and Christiana turned to each other.

"A llama?" Christiana said.

"Like that makes any more sense than a chicken," Moriarty replied.

&%&%&%

There was a short recess after the Goblin King finished her testimony with only a few more interruptions from the Gremlin King. Jareth and Sarah were standing in the main hall, walking hand in hand as they waited to be fetched for Sarah's testimony.

"Shouldn't they have tried to kill each other?" Sarah asked.

"Who?" Jareth said.

"The gremlins and the goblins," Sarah said.

Jareth shrugged. "They may not remember fighting each other before. Both species are just very young children at heart. Gremlins may have a tendency towards destruction, but they are not predestined to be evil. That is Doyle's doing."

"Why do you still call him that?" Sarah asked.

"Because even though he is evil now, he was not predestined to be evil. I prefer to think on when he was mostly an innocent," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

Sarah and Jareth were escorted to a small backroom that was painted white. It had two doors facing each other (one that lead to the court room and the other that led to a hallway) and it had only a long table. They were told to wait until the High King and the head physician arrived. Jareth leaned against one of the walls not having a door and Sarah leaned against him. He slipped his arms around Sarah and kissed her neck.

"Jareth, I don't think it's a good idea for us to be necking when the High King shows up," Sarah said.

"I could care less what he thinks," Jareth said, "He already knows we are bound and promised to each other. I am sure he is thinking that we are involved in much more… _interesting _things."

Sarah elbowed Jareth. "Please, stop. I'm nervous and you're not helping."

Jareth rested his head on top of Sarah's. "What would help, precious?"

"I like that you're holding me like this," Sarah said. She closed her eyes and tried to match her breathing to Jareth's.

"I will not allow harm to come to you, Sarah."

"I know."

"It would be highly irregular to kill off a witness. The Courts hate cleaning up messes. It might stain their gloves."

Sarah laughed just a little too loudly.

"You have many who will not wish you dead. Even the High Queen has not completely dismissed you. You have some use for them."

Sarah nodded. "Why do I feel like that is a bad thing?"

After taking off his gloves, Jareth held out his right hand and made a crystal appear. "I've brought you a gift," Jareth said in a tone that made Sarah shiver all over.

"What is it?" Sarah asked.

"Hold out your hands and I will show you," Jareth said.

Sarah did. As Jareth pressed the crystal into Sarah's hands, it disintegrated until Jareth's hands met Sarah's. They intertwined their fingers together and Jareth let out a sigh.

"I do miss being able to do that," Jareth said.

"I don't miss the Cleaners but your magic is the most beautiful I've seen. You seem to have a certain flair for making the glitter look good," Sarah said.

Sarah could tell Jareth was smirking. "Thank you, precious. I have placed a spell on you that will tell me if you are coming close to physical or mental distress that will cause you permanent harm. It is temporary and will only last thirteen hours. You will also know if I am distressed."

Sarah kissed the back of Jareth's hands. "Thank you."

"It is all I can do for the moment," Jareth said.

The High King and the physician entered. The physician was carrying a covered silver platter which he placed on the table. Jareth and Sarah bowed and curtsied respectful.

"Champion of the Labyrinth, step forward," the High King said.

Sarah did and placed her hands on the table. She could see Jareth slipping his gloves back on.

"Do you accept the need for a truth spell to be placed on you?" the High King said.

"Yes, sir," Sarah replied.

The physician removed the covering and Sarah rolled her eyes. "Really? Why not go for an apple? If you were going for a cliché..."

"Do you not accept this truth spell?" the High King said.

Sarah was about to pick up the peach when Jareth snatched it. "I would like to make sure the dose is high enough, your majesty."

The High King nodded his approval. Jareth rolled the peach between his hands, smelled it, and gently squeezed it. He took a small bite and immediately spat it out onto the platter.

"This is far too high. This could kill her in an hour," Jareth said.

"Than your Champion should speak quickly. Besides, you have no choice in this matter, Jareth. It is the Champion's decision."

Jareth spoke to Sarah. "You do not have to do this."

"Will the trial start immediately?" Sarah asked the physician.

"In about five minutes," the physician said.

"Will I be given the antidote as soon as I am dismissed?" Sarah said.

"Yes," the physician.

Sarah stared at the High King. "I expect to be unharmed when I am finished giving my testimony. Anything else will be taken as foul play."

"Of course," the High King said.

Sarah turned to Jareth, who was obviously angry. She gently touched his cheek. "I will be all right. You will know if I am not and you will get me out."

"This is not necessary," Jareth said, holding up the peach.

"But I will not be able to be at ease with myself if I do not testify, as little as it means," Sarah said, "I am doing this out of obligation to my conscience, not to you. Please, Jareth."

Jareth hesitantly handed the peach to Sarah. She took a small bite and found it too sweet for an ordinary peach but it did not taste like the one Hoggle gave her (which tasted a bit like wine with a strong, bitter aftertaste). After swallowing, the spell made Sarah feel like all of her thoughts were rushing too freely. Sarah put the peach down and gently kissed Jareth.

"I love you, and that is the truth."

&%&%&%

A/N: I swore to myself when I began this series that I would not rely heavily on the quotes and symbols in the movie. As you can see, I have failed in epic proportions to the point that nine out of eleven of these chapters are from the movie.


	4. Chapter IV: Truth Hurts

Chapter IV: Truth Hurts

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

"You need to stop pacing," Dante hissed at his uncle.

"Everyone already knows I am opposed to this," Jareth said, "I am prepared if I need to get Sarah out."

"You don't think Mum and Dad would do that for you?" Dante asked.

"Not impossible, but I would rather not take a chance," Jareth said.

"You act like an old man sometimes, kinsman," Christiana said.

"I am an old man," Jareth said.

"You are eleven years older than me," Christiana said.

"Like I said, I am an old man," Jareth said.

The Court was called to order. Jareth leaned against the back wall and tried not to show all his tells. He was failing miserably.

"The next witness will be Sarah Williams, Champion and Victor of the Labyrinth," the High King said.

Sarah came out from the back room. Jareth supposed the dress was "plain" by Court standards, but it was very similar to the dress Sarah wore when she would play act in the park. He adored how she carried herself when she was dressed like that. She had a sense of confidence that he had only seen when she was taking care of her patients or when she stood up to him. Jareth saw Sarah's small smile when she glanced at him after she took the stand.

"State your name for the record," the High King said.

"Sarah Williams."

"To prove you have been given the truth spell in full, please try to tell us a false color of the dress you are wearing," the prosecutor said.

"R… green," Sarah said.

"Thank you, Ms. Williams," the prosecutor said.

"May we ask a more personal question to prove that the witness is unable to lie?" the defense asked. It was the first time he spoke during the entire trial.

"You may," the prosecutor said.

"Lady Sarah, what did you dream about when you ate the peach given to you by the former Goblin King, Jareth?" the defense asked.

"Why does it matter?" Sarah asked.

"Just answer the question," the defense said.

Sarah glanced over to the prosecutor and then the Seelie King before speaking. "I dreamed that I was at a masquerade ball where… adult activities were starting but that I was not involved with those activities. I was the only one without a mask until I saw Jareth remove his. I spent most of the time looking for him because… he seemed to be the prince charming to… my Cinderella and that's how the story goes. Jareth finally showed himself to me and he sang to me while we danced a chaste waltz. I realized something was wrong and knew I had to leave when the clock struck twelve. I ran away from Jareth and through a crowd. I broke the crystal room by throwing a chair. I fell gently into the garbage heaps outside of the Goblin City. I still did not remember why I was in the Labyrinth until a few minutes later. Satisfied?"

"Your majesties, would you say that is accurate to the records of Sarah Williams' Run through the Labyrinth?" the prosecutor asked.

"Except for the marshmallow dress, yes," the Unseelie Queen said.

"Hey, Princess Diana had died the year before and I wasn't quite over it. Combine that with a Goblin King who thinks he's an eighties rock star and you are going to get poofy. Be grateful I wasn't in my Marie Antoinette phase then," Sarah said.

The Court (including the Unseelie Queen) snickered at this. Sarah looked up to Jareth and mouthed "I didn't mean to say that".

"Now, to the matter at hand," the prosecutor said, "Ms. Williams, what is your relationship to the Gremlin King?"

"He tried to: take over the Labyrinth and kill my friends; strapped my brother and me into bombs; shameless led on an innocent woman who is my friend in an attempt to get information; and he is the arch-nemesis to my fiancé," Sarah said.

"Have you ever spoken to the man?" the prosecutor asked.

"The cab ride when he kidnapped me, when he forced me to change in front of him into my Labyrinth Run clothes, and when he tried to blow up Jareth and me. Besides that, no," Sarah said.

"And what was your impression of the Gremlin King?" the prosecutor asked.

"He has no regard for life at all. He views it all as a game. He is vindictive, childish, intelligent, and will most likely self-destruct at some point," Sarah said.

"What do you mean he will self-destruct?" the prosecutor asked.

Moriarty began drumming his left fingers against his left knee.

Sarah was quiet for a moment and Jareth felt his hands begin to prickle with pain. "Jareth said once that Moriarty is 'a highly intelligent, spoiled child with a knowledge of good and evil that he chooses to ignore for his own amusement, melancholic, suicidal tendencies, a flair for the dramatic…' and then Dante said that Jimmy was basically Jareth. I don't think that they are exact replicas, but I know Jareth well enough to guess what Moriarty's basic personality is. He is Jareth if Jareth was only left with his games to occupy his mind. Jimmy knows exactly what he is doing but he does not care. That is why I am testifying. James Doyle also known as Jim Moriarty is not mentally ill, but truly evil.

Sarah turned to Moriarty. "There is only one reason I have not killed you, Jimmy. Jareth asked me not to. Remember that. Everyone has it wrong. I don't keep Jareth in check. He keeps me from turning into something that, in my better moments, I do not want to become. Do you understand?"

"Are you threatening me?" Moriarty asked.

"No. I am simply stating that if you hurt Jareth, I will end you. Do you understand?" Sarah said.

Moriarty grinned. "Crystal."

The defense said, "Your honor, she has threatened to ki…"

Sarah hissed as she bent over clutching her stomach. "Okay, that is not normal."

"Sudden illness is not an excuse for traitorous words," the High King said.

"They are when the truth spell is making you sick. I am going… to vomit in front of this court if I am not… excused for… medical treatment."

Jareth did not have to listen to another word. He quietly but quickly left the balcony and made his way down to where Sarah was. By the time Jareth reached the main floor, Puck was assisting Sarah out of the court room and into the main foyer.

"Hey," Sarah said. She grabbed Jareth's arm. "Sorry, but I'm not too steady on my feet right now but I really want to walk out of here with some dignity for a couple of yards."

Jareth supported Sarah as she walked out of the main foyer and to a side hall. The High King and High Queen were waiting for them.

"What do you have to say for yourself Ms. Williams?" Oberon asked.

"I am going to regurgitate my breakfast onto you if you don't move," Sarah said.

"She is ill," Jareth said.

"If you don't move, this is foul play," Sarah said, "I wouldn't put it past you. You're the real bastard, not Rumpelstiltskin's Dad."

Jareth could barely sense the magic before he was thrown against the wall. Oberon grabbed Sarah by the throat but did not squeeze.

"What did you say to me?" Oberon said.

"Truth hurts, doesn't it? If you don't want to hear it, don't make people say it," Sarah said.

"Oberon, really, do you want to punish a frightened, ill girl?" Titania said, "I am sure the physician will find that the amount of the spell given to Ms. Williams was the level where a person has to speak whatever thoughts cross their mind. The girl's testimony will mean nothing nor will her words."

Jareth tried to stand up but Titania's magic held him down. "Show some restraint, husband. Do you want people to think that you are unable to control your passions like your Father?"

Oberon sighed and released Sarah. "Be aware, girl, I will not be so lenient next time."

"I'll keep that in mind, your highness," Sarah said.

&%&%&%

Sarah was given the reversal of the truth spell as soon as she arrived at the infirmary. She began to recover almost immediately but remained lying down on a hospital bed to recover. Jareth sat by her side.

"Don't you have a testimony to give?" Sarah asked.

Jareth stroked Sarah's hair. "In a little bit. I have time to stay with you."

Sarah took Jareth's free hand and kissed it. "I'm sorry. I should have listened to you. How bad is it?"

"The High King probably has me higher on his 'to kill' list but that is not unusual. He probably thinks you should be 'put down' as he would call it," Jareth said.

"That will not happen," Titania said as she walked up behind Jareth, "At least not today."

Jareth stood up and bowed while Sarah tried to sit up more. "Your majesty," Jareth said.

Titania said, "I have spoken to my husband. He has decided to show his mercy by overlooking Ms. Williams' traitorous words by having your testimony removed from the evidence."

"What?" Sarah said.

"Would you rather your beloved goblin lose his head?" Titania asked.

"No, your majesty," Sarah said.

"The court will reconvene in a half hour. I would suggest you look appropriately ill when you sit in," Titania said to Sarah.

Titania left. Sarah bit her lip.

"What are you thinking, precious?" Jareth asked.

"How powerful is Titania?" Sarah asked.

"She is one of the five most powerful people in the Underground," Jareth said.

"I don't mean just in magic. How much sway does she have?" Sarah asked.

"Why are you asking?" Jareth asked.

"I don't… just be careful with her. I think she is playing a long game but I don't know what that long game is," Sarah said.

Jareth leaned forward and kissed Sarah's forehead. "I will keep that in mind, precious."

&%&%&%

Jareth splashed his face with water in the bathroom provided for the higher officials of the Courts. _Sarah will be well. It did not go too badly. It could have gone worse. Sure, her testimony has been thrown out, but it could have been worse._

He leaned over the sink and let the water drip off his face. Jareth took slow, deep breaths as he prepared to be questioned by the High Court. He took a towel and patted his face dry before standing up straight to look at himself in the mirror.

There was a red headed half-Fae/half-human standing in the bathroom. She looked star-struck. Jareth did not turn around. He merely raised an eyebrow at the intrusion.

"You're him," the woman said.

Jareth noticed she was wearing a fedora, a brown leather jacket, and a tight, pink tea length dress that, though of high quality, was looking ragged.

"It depends on who you mean," Jareth said.

"I'm a big fan, Mr. King," the woman said.

Jareth turned towards the intruder. "Evidently."

"I read your cases; follow them all," the woman said. She stepped closer and opened her jacket to show a low neckline before pulling out an autograph book. "Would you sign it?"

"There are two types of fans," Jareth said.

"Oh?"

"'Catch me before I kill again' – Type A ..."

"Uh-huh. What's Type B?"

"'Your bedroom is not that far away.'"

The woman grinned. "Guess which one I am."

"Neither," Jareth said.

"Really?"

"No. You're not a fan at all," Jareth said. He kept his distance but motioned to the areas he described. "Those marks on your forearm are from the edge of a desk. You have been typing in a hurry, probably. You are facing a deadline."

"That all?"

"And there is a smudge of ink on your wrist as well as a bulge in your left jacket pocket. You have a Dictaphone that is on right now."

"Bit of a giveaway," the woman said, all pretenses of being a fan falling away

"The smudge is deliberate, to see if I am as good as they say I am. May you please raise your hand for a moment?" The woman complied and Jareth briefly sniffed the ink on her wrist. "It is oil-based. It is used in newspaper print, but drawn on with an index finger; your finger. Journalist. It is unlikely you would get your hands dirty at the press. You put that there to test me." He also smelled ambrosia and nectar, but decided against mentioning it yet.

"Wow, I'm liking you!"

"You mean I would make a great feature: 'Jareth the Detective – The Goblin Beneath the Hat'."

The woman held out her hand. "Kitty Riley. Pleased to meet you."

Jareth gave a condescending smile. "No."

"No?"

"I am just saving you the trouble of asking, Ms. Riley. No, I will not give you an interview. No, I do not want the money. Now, you have wasted my time enough. I have to give my testimony." Jareth moved past Kitty but she followed him to the door of the bathroom.

"Ms. Williams is still under the laws of the High Court. I can request asking an interview with her. Maybe another truth spell will be needed," Kitty said.

Jareth stopped at the door. He strongly resisted bashing the reporter's head into the wall. Kitty stood next to Jareth, far closer than Jareth was comfortable with.

"There's all sorts of gossip in the press and the Courts about you. Sooner or later you're gonna need someone on your side. Someone to set the record straight," Kitty said as she slipped a business card into Jareth's jacket pocket.

"And you think you are the girl for that job, do you Ms. Riley?" Jareth said. He let his goblin teeth show in his smile.

"I'm smart, and you can trust me, totally," Kitty said.

"Smart? You must be an investigative journalist. Good. Well, look at me and tell me what you see," Jareth said.

He moved around Kitty so he could spread his arms wide. She stared at him blankly and for the first time showed uncertainty.

"If you are so skillful, you do not need an interview. You can just read what you need. No? Then let me show you how it's done."

Jareth let himself return to his former Goblin King demeanor and paced around Kitty, slowly making the circle smaller each time he went around her.

"I look at you and I see someone who has been an outcast her entire life. You are wearing an expensive dress but it has been re-hemmed twice; it is the only nice outfit you have that is suitable for the High Court. Your leather jacket is worn from use. You are desperate to find power. I see someone who is still waiting for their first big scoop so that Apollo will notice you. I know that Apollo has a hand in _The Sun _newspaper with the humans. Yes, I smelled the food of the gods on you. You must have gotten some on you while one of the demi-gods had you against their desk during their lunch break. You did not bother cleaning it up properly either because you were in a hurry to get here or because you are so used to it the stickiness no longer bothers you. I see someone who is hungry for recognition. If you get an interview with me, you will be in the public eye of both the Fae and the humans. I do not see smart and I definitely do not see trustworthy. I see a girl who will do anything for a little attention, even if it means threatening the life of someone who would want to help her. Such a pity you did not simply go to Sarah. She would have helped you if you gave her a little sob story. I will not help a repulsive scab like you except for one quote."

He stopped behind Kitty and whispered low in her ear, "You... repel... me."

Jareth left the reporter trembling and half way to tears. _That should make her leave us alone for a long, long time._

&%&%&%

A/N: I forgot how much I like writing vindictive speeches made by Goblin Kings.

It was around the time that I was trying to figure out Titania's role in all of this that I realized she is basically Anne Boleyn if she had given birth to a son. After that, a lot of things fell into place for writing the High Court scenes.


	5. Chapter V: You'll Never Make It Out Agai

Chapter V: You'll Never Make It Out Again

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

"Why does your uncle have to be so sexy when he's thinking?" Sarah said as Jareth paced outside the court room.

"Please don't ever say that again. I will expel the contents of my stomach onto you," Christiana said.

"Sorry. The truth spell is still working some. I can't control everything that comes out of my mouth. I kind of miss the tights. I can really appreciate them now," Sarah said.

"Please stop talking. I'm going to cry from the horror of it all," Dante said.

The court was once again called into order. Sarah went with Dante and Christiana to watch Jareth's testimony.

"The next witness will be Lord Jareth, former Goblin King and Lord of the Labyrinth," the High King said.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then… as if _someone_ had installed speakers specifically for this purpose…

"Now the party don't start 'til I walk in…"

The doors of the court room flew open and Jareth strutted into the room. He winked at Sarah when he saw her. The former Goblin King blew a kiss to the crowd before making a chair appear in the stand that was tall enough that his view was the same as if standing.

After a bow to the kings and queens, Jareth said, "Afternoon your majesties." He sat down and casually threw one of his legs over the banister so that he was lazing about.

Sarah heard an audible sigh of lust from the audience.

"How does he do that?" Sarah asked.

"There are some questions you do not want to have answered," Dante said.

"A spell?" Sarah asked.

"No. Practice," Dante said.

"Are you to make a mockery of this court?" the High King said.

"No. That would mean that this place had a sense of seriousness before I arrived," Jareth said.

"Lord Jareth…" Oberon growled.

Jareth held up his right hand. "I solemnly swear that I will tell the truth and not have goblins tear apart the court room."

"He's done that before, hasn't he?" Sarah said.

"His trial, yes," Christiana said.

Oberon relaxed some. ""State your name for the record."

"Lord Jareth."

"When did you first meet the defendant?" the prosecutor asked.

"When James Doyle was three years old, he was wished away by his Mother. James' Mother solved the Labyrinth in five hours and forty-two minutes. That time has only been beaten by Mycroft Holmes when he ran the Labyrinth in exactly four hours. Mr. Holmes is our liaison between worlds," Jareth said.

"What did you observe in your time with the defendant?"

"He was an intelligent child with a cruel streak. He thought it would be fun to set the goblins on fire. The goblins were not harmed but James did not know that would happen," Jareth said.

"This did not raise any concerns?"

"No. I did not particularly care. He was just another child. If his Mother won, I would never see the child again except to answer a wish. If his Mother lost, James Doyle would be a goblin and would have almost no memories of his previous life and would be taught the proper way for a goblin to behave," Jareth said. He twirled his riding crop. "I have seen children react to being taken in a variety of ways for over three hundred years. I have seen them react in much stronger ways when they arrived in my kingdom than lashing out at the goblins. Doyle was no different. He was _ordinary_."

Moriarty gave a brief sneer at Jareth.

"When did you meet this child again?" the prosecutor asker.

"I met James Doyle when he called upon me to fulfill his one wish as a wished away. There are a few rules with this. One: No wishing for more wishes. Two: No bringing back the dead. Three: No creating of the dead. Four: You cannot make anyone fall in love with anyone else. Five: You cannot wish for someone to be the Goblin King. James asked me to kill a boy who had been teasing him. I immediately removed his wish and banished him from ever receiving goblin aid."

"But that was not the end of it?"

"No. Last year Jim Moriarty began revealing himself to me. First, with a serial killer cab driver case for me to solve. Then I noticed a pattern beginning to emerge with crimes in both worlds. Of course, then there were the bombs. Amongst the kidnapping victims were my previous intended heir, Toby Williams, and his sister, Sarah Williams. At that point, Doyle revealed himself to me and we have been chasing each other since then. I learned some information from Irene Adler on Moriarty. She was very _obliging_ before her removal from influence in the human world. Save for the Gremlin King's recent actions, we have had no interactions beyond those that I have mentioned."

Sarah noticed how uncomfortable Oberon became when Irene Adler was mentioned. This was to be expected. Jareth did win over Irene from Oberon and it was an embarrassment that Oberon had never recovered. What did surprise Sarah was that Titania seemed to be amused by the Irene Adler comment.

"And what is your view of the Gremlin King overall?" the prosecutor asked.

"He is an attention seeker who wants to be the cleverest of all of us. He does not care for money or power. He wants to be entertained," Jareth said.

"No further questions," the prosecutor said.

"You said that the Gremlin King was an ordinary child and that other children responded with more strength against being taken to the Goblin Kingdom," the defense said.

"I did," Jareth said.

"Can you give us an example of someone who gave a stronger reaction than setting a goblin on fire?"

Jareth smirked. "Mycroft Holmes' brother, Sherlock, had the strongest rebellion to being taken. Sherlock convinced my goblins to set the castle on fire. He used that distraction to try and escape. That amount of traitorous action was not reached again until Sarah Williams' run." Jareth winked at Sarah.

"You seem to inspire much insurrection," the defense said.

"The Labyrinth tends to attract strong individuals. They will do anything to save those they love," Jareth said. He looked to Joanna and then Sarah. "The strongest dreams come from the strongest wills. Without those strong wills, there would be no dreams created and no hope. Those who realize that children are the embodiment of that hope have the greatest power of all."

"Do the dreams ever become corrupted?" the defense asked.

"Some, yes," Jareth said.

"Can you predict the downfall of those dreams?"

"Sometimes."

"Would you be able to predict a child's future from their actions?"

"Sometimes."

"If Jim Moriarty was showing the signs of a psychopath at the age of three and wanted to murder another child at the age of eleven, why did you not kill him if you knew he would become a menace to society?"

Jareth was silent. The court began to murmur. Moriarty looked at Jareth with interest.

"Answer the question," the High King said.

Jareth shifted positions and sat up. "I may have the ability to manipulate time, but that does not mean that I can see the future clearly. Sherlock Holmes became a detective who solved crimes and saved people's lives. He had a much higher chance of being a serial killer than James. I have never killed a child or a goblin in my reign. I was too lenient with Doyle when he asked for his wish and I regret it. I made a mistake in the eyes of this kangaroo court for not killing someone for a crime they did not commit. James had not killed anyone by the time he made his wish. I punished him as I thought would be just. Satisfied?"

Moriarty smiled at the High King and Sarah wished she could strangle both of the smug snakes.

"The defense rests."

&%&%&%

"The High King will not take the 'kangaroo court' comment lightly," Mycroft Holmes said as he waited for tea to be served in the Seelie Court's rooms.

"I don't doubt it," Jareth said.

"I thought you were trying to do your best with having Jimmy brought to justice," Sarah said.

"When they asked me the question about why I did not kill Moriarty sooner, I knew we had lost," Jareth said, "I might as well stab my enemies while I'm bleeding out."

"The High King wishes you to know that your banishment and removal of powers will be reinstated by midnight," Mycroft said.

"Well, it's time to go home then, isn't it?" Jareth said.

&%&%&%

The next day a goblin popped into 221b, handed a message to Jareth, and then immediately popped back to the Underground. Jareth unfolded the small note and his face became oddly calm.

"Precious, you may wish to go out with Mrs. Hudson for a bit," Jareth said.

"Jareth…"

"He has been exonerated by the Courts. He will come here first. I doubt he will do anything to the two of you yet, but I would rather not tempt him," Jareth said.

"I am not leaving you alone with him," Sarah said.

"I need to speak with him. I will not be able to control myself from killing him if he tries to harm you again. If I do kill him, neither of us will be allowed to live," Jareth said.

"Jareth, you do not control yourself well when I am here or not here," Sarah said.

"He may tell me more if we speak in private," Jareth said.

"Why do you think you have to do this alone?" Sarah asked, "This is not a one way street, you know. I am here to help you."

"And you will help me best by staying away from here for a few hours," Jareth said with a sharpness that Sarah rarely heard used against her.

Jareth took Sarah's hand and kissed it. "We made a deal. You would be the pure heroine; I would be the dark, tormented hero."

"And the heroine does not leave the hero behind," Sarah said. She titled Jareth's chin up so he would look at her. "I am stronger than you think. I am not a damsel in distress. I thought we agreed that was you back at Baskerville."

Jareth smiled slightly at that. "I shall wave a white flag from my tall tower if I am in need of rescuing, precious."

"I don't want you fight this alone."

Jareth kissed Sarah gently. "As you once said, it is the way it is done."

Sarah bit her lip but nodded in agreement. "I will take Mrs. Hudson down the street to have tea. I will come running if you call for me. Make sure to call the Labyrinth as well," Sarah said.

"I will," Jareth said.

Sarah slipped on her coat and pulled on her beanie. She paused at the door. "I love you, Jareth."

"I love you as well, Sarah," Jareth said.

Sarah smiled slightly. "Should you need me…"

"I'll call," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

A/N: Yes, the wish system was inspired by _Aladdin_.

On Jareth's mention of stress in children: Children who are taken from their homes (even from extremely abusive situations) have been found to have the same stress levels as soldiers returning from war with PTSD. The last I heard, this emotional trauma is going to be considered an official mental stress and illness.

On Jim's mental state, I am not a psychologist. I based his behaviors off the early signs of serial killers as well as stories and experiences from teachers who have worked with young students with severe ED (emotional disability) diagnoses. By young, I mean four and five year olds honestly trying to kill their teachers on a regular basis.

I repeat, I am not a psychologist. This is a work of fiction and is not be used as a diagnostic tool.


	6. Chapter VI: Throw Yourself at the Ground

Chapter VI: Throw Yourself at the Ground and Miss

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

The title comes from _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy _by Douglas Adams. "There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

&%&%&%

As much as Jareth was loathed to admit it at times, he was at heart an Englishman. Around the time he would have grown-up, tea became the drink of England. It was a beverage used for all occasions from warming one's heart to stilling one's enemy's.

Unfortunately, Jareth could not use poison at this point, much to his sadness. Besides, why ruin a good cup of tea?

After making the tea, Jareth began playing Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G minor on the piano as he waited for James to arrive. He had unlocked the front door (he did not want Moriarty to scratch the locks). As he played on, he heard the creaky step and knew that James had finally come. He paused for a moment as he prepared himself and then continued playing.

"Most people knock. But then you're not most people, I suppose," Jareth said. He motioned towards the table between the two arm chairs. "The tea is ready."

Jim picked up an apple from a bowl on the coffee table as he entered the room. "Johann Sebastian would be appalled." Jim motioned to a chair. "May I?"

Jareth stood up. "Please."

Jareth motioned to the chair Sarah generally sat in, but Jim took Jareth's seat. Moriarty took out a pocket knife and started to cut into the apple. Jareth decided that now was the time to serve the tea.

Moriarty spoke first. "You know when he was on his death bed, Bach, he heard his son at the piano playing one of his pieces. The boy stopped before he got to the end..."

"... and the dying man jumped out of his bed, ran straight to the piano, and finished it," Jareth said.

"Couldn't cope with an unfinished melody," Moriarty said.

"Neither can you, James. That is why you have come."

"But be honest: you're just a tiny bit pleased."

"With the verdict?" Jareth asked. He added a splash of milk to a cup and offered it to Jim, turning the handle to Jim's right, though Jareth knew Moriarty was left handed.

Jim made a face but continued with the conversation as he corrected the cup. "With me... back on the streets. One of your little wished-aways finally cleverer than you." He looked up at Jareth and smiled. "Every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain. Since you have left the post open, I decided to take it."

Jareth added sugar and milk to his tea.

"You need me, or you're nothing. Because we're just alike, you and I – except you're boring. You're on the side of the angels."

"In the mortal realm, you got to the jury," Jareth said as he decided to not let Moriarty monologue without direction.

"I got into the Tower of London; you think I can't worm my way into twelve hotel rooms? Cable network. Every hotel bedroom has a personalized TV screen and every person has their pressure point; someone that they want to protect from harm. Easy-peasy."

By the time Jim finished explaining, Jareth was sitting down and taking his tea. "What did you offer Oberon, James?"

"What he has wanted a long time. Nothing too difficult for me, but very hard for him," Jim said.

Jareth twitched slightly as he resisted strangling Moriarty right then.

"You of course know what that is, Goblin King."

"You are doing to destroy my family. I will be interested in seeing how you think you can defeat them," Jareth said.

Jim shrugged. "One thread pulled and all that."

_Joanna then. He'll start by trying to hurt her. _"So how are you going to do it..." Jareth blew on his tea, "...burn me?

Jim spoke softly. "Oh, that's the problem – the final problem. Have you worked out what it is yet?"

Jareth took another sip of tea.

"What's the final problem, Goblin King? I did tell you…" in a sing song voice he said, "…but did you listen?"

Jim took another sip of tea before putting down his cup. He drummed his left fingers against his left knee. Jareth watched the movement careful.

"How hard do you find it, having to say 'I don't know'?" Jim asked.

Jareth smirked. "I don't know."

"Oh, that's clever; that's very clever; awfully clever. Speaking of clever, have you told your little pets yet?"

"Told them what?" Jareth asked.

"Why I broke into all those places and never took anything."

"No."

"But you understand."

"Obviously."

"Off you go then, little goblin." Moriarty put a piece of apple in his mouth with the flat of his pocket knife.

"You want me to tell you what you already know?" Jareth asked.

"No; I want you to prove that you know it."

"You didn't take anything because you don't need to."

"Good."

"You'll never need to take anything ever again."

"Very good. Because...?"

Jareth smiled slightly, acknowledging the feat Moriarty had accomplished. "Because nothing... nothing in the Bank of England, the Tower of London, or Pentonville Prison could possibly match the value of the key that could get you into all three. In a world of locked rooms, the man with the key is king. I have seen you in a crown and I must acknowledge you wear it well for being a usurper."

Jim was figuratively beaming. "I can open any door anywhere with a few tiny lines of computer code. No such thing as a private bank account now – they're all mine. No such thing as secrecy – I own secrecy. Nuclear codes – I could blow up NATO in alphabetical order. Even your magic defenses are just advanced science. I can open that too. It's _all_ mine."

"You were advertising all the way through the trials. You were showing the worlds what you can do," Jareth said.

"And you were helping. Big client list: rogue governments, intelligence communities... terrorist cells. They all want me," Moriarty ate another piece of the apple, "Suddenly, I'm Mr. Sex."

"If you could break any bank, even the High Court's, what do you care about the highest bidder?" Jareth asked.

"I don't. I just like to watch them all competing. 'Daddy loves me the best!' Aren't ordinary people adorable? Well, you know: you've got your _always_ _loyal_ Sarah. I should get myself a live-in one. It'd be so funny." He stabbed the apple with his pocket knife.

"Why are you doing all of this? You don't want money or power – not really. You have never cared for that, James. What is it all for?"

James Doyle leaned forward and spoke softly. "I want to solve the problem – our problem; the final problem." He raised his head and Jim Moriarty was back in full force. "It's gonna start very soon, Jareth: the fall. But don't be scared. Falling is just like flying except there's a more permanent destination."

The Gremlin King moved his head downward while whistling. When he saw the floor, Jim made a thudding sound.

Jareth stood up and straightened his jacket. "Falling is part of learning how to fly."

"But when was the last time you flew, Goblin King? Do you really think you can avoid that permanent destination now?" Jim said as he stood. He locked his gaze with Jareth. "I owe you a fall, Jareth. I... owe... you."

Jim and Jareth stared at each other for several more seconds before Moriarty left 221b slowly. Jareth stared at where Jim had been sitting. A few moments after the Gremlin King had vacated the flat, Jareth picked up the apple Moriarty had left. The pocket knife was still in it.

Jim had carved an "I", dug a large circular piece out of the apple, and then carved a "U". It formed the letters "I O U". Jareth collapsed into his seat.

&%&%&%

"I have a knife Jimmy! I will use it!" Sarah said as she came into 221b a little less than an hour after Moriarty left.

"Put that away Sarah. You look like a serial killer," Jareth said.

"He's fine Mrs. Hudson," Sarah shouted down the stairs. She moved to kneel in front of Jareth after sticking the knife in some old magazines. "Are you hurt?"

Jareth shook his head.

"What happened?" Sarah asked. She let her left hand comb through Jareth's hair while she clutched Jareth's left hand which was still holding the apple.

"General super villain things," Jareth said, "I need to contact my kinsmen. Moriarty is going to hurt Joanna."

"Okay," Sarah said, "What about you? What did he say about you?"

"Similar things as the pool. He'll burn me and try to make the world fall down."

"I won't let him," Sarah said.

Jareth smiled as he did not want to weep. "Of course you wouldn't, my heroine."

&%&%&%

A/N: I just want to scrub out my soul every time I write Moriarty. He creeps me out like no other villain can. *applause for the original writers on creating a good old fashion villain*


	7. Chapter VII: Give Me the Child

Chapter VII: Give Me the Child

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

**Two Months Later**

There had been no sightings of Moriarty in the human realm or in the Underground. It was believed that he was hiding out in the Gremlin Kingdom. Sarah doubted that Moriarty would become so passive, but Jareth seemed to not think it was necessary to walk with her anymore. This was why she was by herself when she saw an ominous message at the ATM.

Each sentence appeared individually. "There is a problem with your card. Please wait. Thank you for your patience. Sarah."

Turning around, she saw a black car pulled up. Sarah looked up to the sky and muttered curses against Jareth's over-dramatic archenemies.

&%&%&%

Sarah was taken to an elegant white painted building with has a brass plaque outside declaring the venue to be the Diogenes Club. She went inside a large room that was probably a drawing room in another lifetime. There were four elderly, well-dressed men sitting by themselves in reading chairs with a small table at their side. All of them were reading various newspapers.

_Mycroft then. This is definitely his style._

Sarah walked over to the eldest looking gentleman and put on her best innocent girl act. "Er, excuse me sir. Um, I'm looking for Mycroft Holmes."

The old man looked up and looked appalled by Sarah speaking. She continued, realizing it was probably best to leave the room as quickly as possible.

"Would you happen to know if he's around at all?" Sarah looked back and realized everyone was staring at her. "Sir, can you not hear me? Anyone? Does anyone at all know where Mycroft Holmes is? I've been asked to meet him here."

The old man lifted his walking stick and pushed it repeatedly onto a button on a nearby wall. Sarah heard a bell go off in the distance.

"No takers? Right," Sarah said, becoming agitated. She dropped the innocence act. "Am I invisible? Can you actually see me?"

Two men in uniforms, white gloves, and soft white overshoes walked towards Sarah.

"Hello, gentlemen. I'm here to…" They grabbed Sarah's arms and started dragging her out of the room. "Hey! I'll bite your legs off!"

One of the men covered Sarah's mouth to muffle her protests.

&%&%&%

Sarah was brought to a smaller room where Mycroft Holmes explained to her the club's strict silence policy. Mycroft began to pour himself a drink from a crystal decanter.

"Tradition, Sarah. Our traditions define us," Mycroft said.

"So total silence is traditional, is it? You can't even say, 'Pass the sugar,'" Sarah said.

"Three-quarters of the diplomatic service and half the government front bench all sharing one tea trolley. It's for the best, believe me. We don't want a repeat of nineteen seventy-two. But we can talk in here," Mycroft said.

He motioned for Sarah to sit in one of the two armchairs that face each other. Sarah did and grabbed a copy of _The Sun_ from a side table.

"You read this stuff?" Sarah asked.

"Caught my eye," Mycroft said, "Saturday: they're doing a big exposé."

Sarah read the beginning of the article. "'Jareth: The Shocking Truth. Close Friend Richard Brook Tell All. An Exclusive from Kitty Riley.' Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And blah. Utter rubbish. Where does she think she got this information form?"

"Someone called Brook. Recognize the name?" Mycroft asked.

"Nope, but I do not have all of Jareth's past acquaintance memorized. I can tell you that it is not a close friend. The only real friend he has is Sherlock," Sarah said. She put down the newspaper.

Sarah saw a moment of hesitation in Mycroft. "But that's not why I asked you here, Ms. Williams." He handed Sarah a file

Sarah flipped open the folder. "Who's that?"

"Don't know him?"

"No."

"Never seen his face before? He's taken a flat in Baker Street, two doors down from you," Mycroft said.

Sarah smiled sarcastically. "I was thinking of doing a drinks thing for the neighbors."

Mycroft ignored Sarah's tone. "Not sure you'll want to. Sulejmani. Albanian hit squad. Expertly-trained killer living less than twenty feet from your front door."

"It's a great location. The Jubilee line is handy."

"Sarah…"

"What does this have to do with me?" Sarah asked.

Mycroft gave Sarah another file. "Dyachenko, Ludmila."

"Actually, I think I have seen her," Sarah said.

"Russian killer. She's taken the flat opposite," Mycroft said.

Sarah tucked a lose lock of hair behind her eat. "I'm sensing a pattern here."

Mycroft handed Sarah some more files. "In fact, four top international assassins relocate to within spitting distance of two hundred and twenty-one B. Anything you care to share with me?"

"Baker Street has become a little dicey?"

"It's not hard to guess the common denominator, is it?"

"You think this is Moriarty?" Sarah said.

"He promised Jareth he'd come back."

"I doubt Moriarty would be this restrained."

"Restrained?"

"He is much more theatrical. He probably would set 221b on fire and set off a firework display," Sarah said.

"If not Moriarty, then who?" Mycroft asked.

"Why don't you talk to Jareth if you're so concerned about him?" Sarah said.

Mycroft looked away and toyed with the glass on the table beside him. Sarah rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't tell me…"

"Too much history between us, Sarah. Old scores; resentments."

"Oh, grow up. If you really were upset about wishing Sherlock away, you could have left Jareth in the labs," Sarah said. She stood up and turned to leave the room.

"We both know what's coming, Sarah."

Sarah stopped walking away.

"Moriarty is obsessed. He's sworn to destroy his only rival," Mycroft said.

Sarah's voice shook with anger. "And you will... do nothing to help him?"

"Why should I when he has the great Sarah Williams to defend him?" Mycroft said.

Sarah slammed the door behind her.

&%&%&%

Sarah took a taxi to 221b. The door to 221 Baker Street was wide open and a brown envelope was resting against the door frame. She quickly opened it, noting the wax seal on the envelope had an owl on it. A strange brown dust and slightly larger brown pieces fell out of the envelope.

A large, tattooed man pushed past Sarah as he carried a yellow step ladder. Sarah put the envelope in her pocket and ran up the stairs.

"Jareth! Are you all right? Something weird is going on," Sarah said as she ran up the stairs.

She stopped when she saw Lestrade and Donovan with Jareth in the room.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked.

"Kidnapping. Waiting on news from the Labyrinth," Jareth said, staring off at no place in particular.

Lestrade walked over to Sarah. "Rufus Bruhl, the ambassador to the U.S."

"He's in D.C., isn't he?" Sarah said.

"Not him – his children, Max and Claudette, age seven and nine," Lestrade said.

Donovan showed Sarah photographs of the two children. "They're at St Aldate's. Posh boarding place down in Surrey."

"The school broke up; all the other boarders went home – just a few kids remained, including those two. The kids have just vanished. The ambassador has asked for Jareth_ personally_," Lestrade said. He said it in such a way that Sarah knew Lestrade was not happy about it.

Sarah remembered something Lestrade said to her. _We don't allow him near kids' cases. He gets… wrathful. Not just angry but like Biblical wrath of God stuff. We've almost lost several guilty ones before we could stop Jareth._

"The Reichenbach Hero," Sally said sarcastically.

A goblin appeared in the living room. The goblin spoke in a high pitched but clear voice. "The Goblin King wishes you to know that there have been no children wished away in over a week. Her majesty will begin an inquiry to see if there have been illegal transactions elsewhere in the Underground. Good day Lord Jareth." The goblin bowed and then popped out of the room.

&%&%&%

Sarah did not like the quiet Jareth was giving off. During a case, Jareth at least was tapping his fingers while he thought. Now, he was not moving and he did not seem to focus on anything.

When they arrived at St. Aldate's, Jareth was only stopped from running into the school by Lestrade pointing out a middle aged woman who had been crying. "Miss Mackenzie, House Mistress. Go easy."

Jareth stalked towards the woman. "Ms. Mackenzie, you're in charge of pupil welfare, yet you left this place wide open last night." He began to yell. "What are you: an idiot, a drunk or a criminal?" He yanked the shock blanket from her shoulders. "Now quickly, tell me!"

The woman began to cry. "All the doors and windows were properly bolted. No one – not even me – went into their room last night. You have to believe me!"

Jareth's demeanor changed instantly into his charming persona. He reassuring patted Ms. Mackenzie's shoulder. "I do. I just wanted you to speak quickly. Miss Mackenzie will need to breathe into a bag now."

&%&%&%

Jareth moved quickly into the young girl's dormitory and began searching and examining the child's things in the room she shared.

"You said the other kids had all left on their vacations?" Sarah asked.

"They were the only two sleeping on this floor. Absolutely no sign of a break-in. The intruder must have been hidden inside some place," Lestrade said.

Sarah noticed Jareth pulling a copy of _Grimm's Fairy Tales _from a large brown envelope. He flipped through it but found nothing of interest.

"There is no magic here. Show me where the brother slept," Jareth said.

They went to another dormitory. It was smaller than the sister's and had a door with a frosted glass pane in it. Jareth knelt beside the boy's bed and pointed to the door. "The boy sleeps here every night, gazing at the only light source outside in the corridor. He would recognize every shape, every outline, the silhouette of everyone who came to the door."

Lestrade said, "Okay, so..."

"So someone approaches the door who he doesn't recognize, an intruder. Maybe he can even see the outline of a weapon," Jareth said.

The detective went outside the room and closed the door almost all the way. He raised his hand and pointed his fingers as if they were a gun. Jareth came back into the room.

"What would he do in the precious few seconds before they came into the room? How would he use them if not to cry out?" Jareth motioned to the boy's bedside table and the pile of books there. "This little boy; this particular little boy who reads all of those spy books. What would he do?"

"He'd leave a sign," Sarah said.

Jareth began sniffing. He picked up a cricket bat and sniffed along both sides of it. He put down the bat and began looking under the bed. Jareth held up an empty glass bottle of linseed oil.

"Get Anderson," Jareth said.

Sarah muttered to Lestrade, "I thought the Mayans said the apocalypse happened in December."

&%&%&%

Jareth had Anderson darken the boy's room and the hallway as much as possible. The group turned on several ultraviolet lights. Beside the boy's bed, the words "HELP US" had been written with the linseed oil.

"Not much use. Doesn't lead us to the kidnapper," Anderson said.

"Brilliant, Anderson," Jareth said.

"Really?" Anderson said.

"Yes. Brilliant impression of an idiot," Jareth said.

Sarah sighed in relief. _Okay, so maybe the world isn't ending._

Jareth pointed a handheld ultraviolet light at the floor. The oil left several sets of footprints leading towards the door.

"He made a trail for us!" Sarah said, "Clever of him."

"The boy was made to walk ahead of them," Jareth said.

Sarah pointed to some of the oddly shaped footprints. "On tiptoe?"

"It indicates anxiety. There was a gun held to his head," Jareth said.

They moved out into the corridor. "The girl was pulled beside him, dragged sideways. He had his left arm cradled about her neck." The footprints stopped a few yards along the corridor.

"That's the end of it. We don't know where they went from here," Anderson said as Jareth stopped walking. "Tells us nothing after all."

"You're right, Anderson – nothing," Jareth said, "Except his shoe size, his height, his gait, his walking pace." Jareth yanked the blackout material that had been covering the window. "You really are a bloody idiot, aren't you?"

Jareth knelt down and pulled a small Petri dish from his inside pocket. Using a small scalpel and then tweezers, he began scraping some of the linseed oil and floor wax up and placing the materials into the dish.

"You didn't need to tell Anderson he was an idiot," Sarah said.

"Anderson was distracting me," Jareth said.

"No he wasn't. You are just angry about dealing with a kidnapping case," Sarah said.

"Save your psychological analysis for someone who cares about that sort of thing. Now is definitely not the time," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

As they took a taxi back to London, Sarah asked, "But how did he get past the CCTV? If all the doors were locked..."

"He walked in when they were not locked," Jareth said.

"But a stranger can't just walk into a school like that. The staff would be very careful about that sort of thing," Sarah said.

"Anyone can walk in anywhere if they pick the right moment. Yesterday it was the end of term: parents milling around, chauffeurs, staff. What's one more stranger among that lot? He was waiting for them. All he had to do was find a place to hide," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

Molly Hooper was walking along a corridor in St. Bart's preparing to leave the building. Just as she reached the fire doors at the end of the corridor, Sarah and Jareth walked through them.

"Molly!" Jareth said over enthusiastically.

"Oh, hello. I'm just going out," Molly said.

Jareth put his hands on Molly's shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her back the way she came. "No you're not."

"I've got a lunch date," Molly said.

"Cancel it. You're having lunch with me," Jareth said. He pulled out a bag of Quavers crisps from each outside pocket of his long coat.

"What?" Molly said.

"I am in need your help. It's one of your old boyfriends – we're trying to track him down. He's been a bit naughty," Jareth said.

Jareth stopped at the door and smiled mischievously at Molly and Sarah.

"It's Moriarty?" Sarah said.

"Of course it's Moriarty," Jareth said.

"Er, Jim actually wasn't even my boyfriend. We went out three times. I ended it," Molly said.

"Yes, and then he stole the Crown Jewels, broke into the Bank of England and organized a prison break at Pentonville. For the sake of law and order, I suggest you avoid all future attempts at a relationship, Molly," Jareth said.

Sarah patted Jareth's shoulder. "I am doing this for your sake," Sarah said. She then slapped him hard against his cheek.

He gaped at Sarah and rubbed his now reddening cheek. "What was that for?" Jareth said.

"You are always unthoughtful of those you consider beneath you, Jareth, but you are being extra nasty today. If you want to make sure those children come home to their parents, you have to not alienate the people around you. It will only hurt those children. If you do not behave, I will not continue helping on this case. Am I understood?" Sarah said.

Jareth made a face that could only be described as the imitation of a fish gasping for air.

"I said, am I understood?" Sarah said.

"Yes, ma'am," Jareth said, still in shock.

"Good. Now, what do you say to Molly?" Sarah said.

"I am sorry for saying something unkind to you," Jareth said.

"You are forgiven. What about kidnapped kids?" Molly asked.

&%&%&%

Molly made herself scarce after Jareth had identified four of five elements in the foot prints. He was trying to figure out the fifth as Sarah looked over the police photographs taken at the school. She looked at the one that showed the envelope that held the fairy tale book and saw a familiar wax seal.

"Jareth?" Sarah said.

Jareth grunted in reply.

"This envelope that was in her trunk. There's another one," Sarah said. She pulled the envelope out of her coat pocket and handed it to Jareth. "It was on our doorstep. I found it right before I went upstairs. Look at the seal."

Jareth reached into the envelope and took out some of the brown dust. "Breadcrumbs."

"Weird, isn't it?" Sarah said.

"A little trace of breadcrumbs; hardback copy of fairy tales." Jareth's eyes widened. "Two children led into the forest by a wicked father follow a little trail of breadcrumbs."

"'Hansel and Gretel'? Are you serious? What sort of kidnapper leaves clues?" Sarah said.

"The sort that likes to boast; the sort that thinks it's all a game. He sat in our flat and he said these exact words to me... 'Every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain. Since you have left the post open, I decided to take it,' Jareth said.

"Don't tell me you're the wicked witch in the story too," Sarah said.

Jareth ignored Sarah. "The witch's house. The glycerol molecule. PGPR!"

"What's that?" Sarah asked.

"It's used in making chocolate. Come along, Pond. Off to Grandmother's house we go," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

At Scotland Yard, Lestrade handed Jareth a sheet of paper. "This fax just arrived an hour ago."

After looking at the note, he passed it to Sarah. It was handwritten and said, "HURRY UP THEY'RE DYING!"

"What have you got for us?" Lestrade asked.

"I need to find a place in the city where all five of these things intersect," Jareth said as he passed a piece of paper to Lestrade.

"Chalk, asphalt, brick dust, vegetation... What the hell is this? Chocolate?"

"I think we're looking for a disused sweet factory," Jareth said.

"We need to narrow that down. A sweet factory with asphalt?" Lestrade said.

"No. No-no-no. Too general. We need something more specific. Chalk; chalky clay – that is a far thinner band of geology."

"Brick dust?" Lestrade said.

"Building site. Bricks from the nineteen fifties," Jareth said.

Lestrade rubbed his face. "There's thousands of building sites in London."

"I've got people out looking," Jareth said.

"So have I," Lestrade said.

"Sherlock's homeless network – faster than the police. Far more relaxed about taking bribes," Jareth said.

The consulting detective held up his phone as several texts were sent to him. Jareth quickly went through them and said, "Addlestone."

"What?" Sarah said.

"There's a mile of disused factories between the river and the park. It matches everything. Come on!" Jareth said as he ran out of the room.

&%&%&%

Donovan directed many of the police officers how to spread out across the abandoned factory with Lestrade directing the rest. Jareth and Sarah followed behind, looking for clues. Everyone was using flashlights as there was little light in the building.

Jareth stopped and knelt to the ground when he found a large number of empty sweet wrappers scattered on the floor around a blown-out candle on a plate. He touched the wick of the candle.

"This was lit moments ago," Jareth said. He shouted, "They're still here!"

Sarah knelt next to Jareth. He muttered to himself. "Sweet wrappers. What's he been feeding you?" He squinted at the writing on the wrappers. "Hansel and Gretel."

Jareth looked at the wrapper under the beam of the flashlight for a few moments. He sniffed the paper before licking it. He grimaced at the taste.

"Mercury," Jareth said, "The papers. They're painted with mercury."

"No. No. No," Sarah said, "That's lethal. The more of the stuff they ate..."

"Exactly, precious. One of these would not kill them. However, taken in large enough quantities… He didn't need to be there for the execution. Murder by remote control. He could be a thousand miles away. The hungrier they got, the more they ate... the faster they died."

They heard Donovan shout, "Over here!"

Everyone ran towards Donovan and they saw that the children were hiding. They were alive but sick looking.

&%&%&%

Jareth was pacing outside an office in Scotland Yard. Sarah was sitting down due to the relief of the children being found and the fact that she had not slept in over twenty-four hours.

Donovan and Lestrade came out of the office. The former said sarcastically. "Right, then. The professionals have finished. If the amateurs wanna go in and have their turn..."

Sarah stood up and walked over to stand by Jareth. Lestrade was giving Jareth a look that made Sarah feel like she was going to go to jail for several decades.

"Now, remember, she's in shock and she's just seven years old, so anything you can do to..."

"I do know how to deal with traumatized children, Lestrade," Jareth said.

"Like bloody hell you do," Donovan said.

"You were not a child, Sally," Jareth said.

Jareth entered the room before Sarah. The little girl was sitting at the table, looking down at her feet while sitting with a female liaison officer. Jareth knelt down to the girl's level, but kept the table between them.

"Claudette, I..."

The girl looked up and started screaming and pointing at Jareth. He stood up slowly and held up his hands to show he was hiding nothing.

"No. No, I know it's been hard for you. Claudette, listen to me..."

Lestrade grabbed Jareth's arm and shoved him out the door and did the same to Sarah. "Out. Get out!"

&%&%&%

Lestrade, Donovan, Jareth, and Sarah were in another office. "It makes no sense," Sarah said.

"The kid's traumatized. Something about Jareth reminds her of the kidnapper," Lestrade said.

"So what has she said?" Sarah asked.

"Hasn't uttered another syllable," Donovan said.

"And the brother?" Sarah asked. She noticed that Jareth was looking at something intently out the window.

"No, he's unconscious; still in intensive care," Lestrade said. He changed his focus to Jareth. "Well, don't let it get to you. I always feel like screaming when you walk into a room! In fact, so do most people."

Jareth walked away from the window and said nothing to Lestrade. Donovan said something to Jareth that Sarah did not hear, but she saw the glare he gave Sally.

&%&%&%

Sarah hailed an approaching taxi. "Are you okay? Well, actually, you're not okay, but I don't know what's wrong."

"Thinking," Jareth said.

The taxi pulled up at the curb. "This is my cab. You get the next one."

Sarah looked at Jareth with concern. "You never do that. Why?"

"You might talk," Jareth said before he slammed the taxi door behind him.

&%&%&%

A/N: No, Jareth is not the witch in "Hansel and Gretel". Yes, I do know that the seal in the series was not an owl, but, you know, Jareth.


	8. Chapter VIII: Through Dangers Untold

Chapter VIII: Through Dangers Untold

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

When the lights in the building opposite of Scotland Yard lit up to reveal "I O U" spray painted in red, Jareth knew without a doubt it was James Moriarty. The Gremlin King had finally decided to burn Jareth. It only took Sally's not so subtle implication that Jareth was somehow involved in the kidnapping that Jareth could see the plan unfold.

He had been expecting it. He knew it was coming. There was only one other person who guessed that the final step of Moriarty's game was about to be revealed besides Jareth.

&%&%&%

He had been busy examining the pieces of the kidnapper's footprint when Molly spoke to Jareth. "What did you mean, 'I owe you'?"

Jareth looked up from his microscope to watch Sarah as she moved some of the research from one side of the room to the other. He ignored Molly's comment.

"You said, 'I owe you'. You were muttering it while you were working."

Jareth returned to looking through the microscope. "Mental note."

"You're a bit like my Dad. He's dead. No, sorry," Molly said in obvious embarrassment.

"Molly, please don't feel the need to make conversation. It's really not your area."

"When he was... dying, he was always cheerful; he was lovely – except when he thought no one could see. I saw him once. He looked sad."

Jareth spoke in a tone to show that he did not want the conversation to continue. "Molly..."

"You look sad when you think she can't see you."

Jareth looked up and watched Sarah for a moment. He turned towards Molly.

"Are you okay?" Molly asked, "And don't just say you are, because I know what that means, looking sad when you think no-one can see you.".

"You can see me," Jareth said.

"I don't count."

Jareth stared at Molly.

She said, "What I'm trying to say is that, if there's anything I can do, anything you need, anything at all, you can have me. No. That came out wrong. I just mean... I mean if there's anything you need... It's fine."

Molly began to walk away from Jareth when he spoke. "What… what could I need from you?"

SHE turned back towards Jareth. "Nothing. I dunno. You could probably say thank you, actually."

Jareth blinked a few times. "Thank you."

"I'm just gonna go and get some crisps. Do you want anything? It's okay, I know you don't."

"Well, actually, maybe I'll..."

"I know you don't."

&%&%&%

_Doctor Molly Hooper saw what no one else could. Sarah would be pleased if it wasn't for what Molly knew._

The TV screen on the back of the taxi driver's seat switched on for an advertisement for jewelry.

"Can you turn this off?" Jareth said.

The driver did not respond.

Jareth huffed. "Can you turn this off?"

The TV began to go on the fritz as another channel broke through. Jim Moriarty was grinning. A pale blue wall painted with fluffy clouds floating across it was behind Jim. He spoke in a sing song voice similar to how Jareth sometimes spoke to young children..

"Hullo. Are you ready for the story? This is the story of Jareth, the Goblin King. Jareth used to rule all of the goblins. Nobody knew that he fell in love with a girl until he lost his kingdom because of her. He had to redeem himself for falling for the evil witch. Since he could not be king anymore, Jareth went to serve another king. A young king named Arthur. Jareth became the bravest and cleverest knight at the Round Table, but soon the other knights began to grow tired of his stories about how brave he was and how many dragons he'd slain..."

The sky behind Moriarty began to grow darker and the white clouds became gray. "And soon they began to wonder..." It began to rain behind Jim. "'Are Jareth's stories even true?' Oh, no. So one of the knights went to King Arthur and said 'I don't believe Jareth's stories. He's just a big old liar who makes things up to make himself look good.' And then even the King began to wonder..."

Jim raised a finger to his mouth and gazed off to the side with a wondering look. He frowned as cartoon lightning bolts shot out from the clouds. He shook his head. "But that wasn't the end of Jareth's problem. No." Jim looked down for a moment and when he looked up, he glared. "That wasn't the final problem. The End." The screen went on the fritz again until it returned to the jewelry advertisement.

"Stop the cab! Stop the cab!" Jareth said.

The taxi pulled to a stop by the curb. "What was that?" Jareth ran out of the cab to the driver's door. "What was that?"

The cabbie turned to face Jareth. Jim Moriarty smiled as he chewed a piece of gum. "No charge."

Moriarty immediately accelerated away as Jareth tried to open the door. Jareth began to chase after the cab but had to let go of the car door and eventually give up the pursuit entirely. Jareth stopped in the middle of the road and stomped a foot in frustration. He heard a car horn from behind him and then felt someone grab him from out of the middle of the road. A car barely missed Jareth.

Jareth took a moment to catch his breath. "Thank you."

The detective held out his hand to shake hands with the man who saved him. The man reluctantly did and was immediately shot three times in quick succession from somewhere behind Jareth. The man slumped to the ground. Jareth looked around wildly trying to identify the source of the bullets.

Sarah's cab stopped and she ran out of the cab. "Jareth! What happened?" After a brief check on Jareth, Sarah went to check the man who was shot for a pulse but Jareth pulled her back.

"No. He's dead. Don't touch the body. The police will want to look at him," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

The ambulance took the body away. Jareth was tapping out a song with his left fingers against his left leg. Sarah took Jareth's free hand in an attempt to calm him down.

"His name is Sulejmani or something. Mycroft showed me his file. He's a big Albanian gangster who lives two doors down from us."

"He died because I shook his hand," Jareth said.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"He saved my life but he couldn't touch me. Why?" Jareth said. He pulled Sarah along with him as they walked the rest of the way to 221b Baker Street.

&%&%&%

"Sarah, check the local Wi-Fi networks," Jareth said. He pulled off his scarf and coat and began pacing the room. "Four assassins living right on our doorstep. They didn't come here to kill me; they have to keep me alive. I've got something that all of them want, but if one of them approaches me..."

"...the others kill them before they can get it," Sarah said.

Jareth leaned over Sarah's shoulder as she showed the various networks in multiple language to Jareth.

"All of the attention is focused on me. There's a surveillance web closing in on us right now," Jareth said.

"So what do you have that's so important?" Sarah said.

Jareth brushed an index finger against the desk and then rubbed his fingers together. "We need to ask about the dusting."

&%&%&%

Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Hudson had been dragged upstairs in her nightdress and dressing gown. Jareth was hurrying around the room checking for dust on all the furniture.

"Precise details: in the last week, what has been cleaned?" Jareth asked.

Mrs. Hudson said, "Well, Tuesday I did your lino..."

"No, in here, this room. This is where we'll find it – any break in the dust line. You can put back anything but dust. Dust is eloquent," Jareth said.

"What's he on about?" Mrs. Hudson asked Sarah quietly.

"I have no idea," Sarah said.

Jareth was looking closely at the top shelves of the bookcases. "Cameras. We're being watched."

"What? Cameras? Here? I'm in my nightie!" Mrs. Hudson said. She hurried out of the room.

"Isn't that normal for us?" Sarah said.

The doorbell rang.

"Mycroft has heavily reduced surveillance. He considers it an early wedding present. Please get that, precious," Jareth said.

Jareth was standing on a chair when he pushed a book on the far right shelf in and it revealed a small camera. He carefully removed it. Without turning around, Jareth said, "No, Inspector."

"What?" Lestrade said.

Jareth stepped down from the chair. "The answer is no."

"But you haven't heard the question!" Lestrade said.

"You want to take me to the station. I am just saving you the trouble of asking," Jareth said, "Sarah, please check this with the computer."

Lestrade said, "Jareth..."

Jareth interrupted as he moved closer to Lestrade. "The scream?"

"Yeah," Lestrade said.

"Who was it? Donovan? Definitely Donovan. Am I somehow responsible for the kidnapping? Moriarty is smart. He planted that doubt in her head; that little nagging sensation. You are going have to be strong to resist, Greg. You cannot kill an idea, can you? Not once it has made a home..." Jareth briefly placed the tip of his index finger on Lestrade's forehead "...there."

"Will you come?" Lestrade asked.

"One photograph – that's his next move. This is Moriarty's game. First the scream, and then a photograph of me being taken in for questioning. He wants to destroy me inch by inch. It is a game, Lestrade, and not one I am willing to play. Give my regards to Sergeant Donovan."

Lestrade sighed and tried to get back up from Sarah, but she was ignoring the inspector. Lestrade left. Jareth looked out the window right of the piano.

"The camera is up and running," Sarah said.

"They'll be deciding," Jareth said.

"Deciding what?" Sarah asked.

"Whether to come back with a warrant and arrest me," Jareth said.

"You think so?" Sarah said, looking up from the computer.

"It is standard procedure," Jareth said.

"You should have gone with him. People will think..."

"I don't care what people think."

Sarah put her elbows on the table and rested her head on her clasped hands, keeping her eyes on Jareth. "You would care if they thought you were stupid or wrong."

"No, that would just make them stupid or wrong," Jareth said.

Sarah spoke softly. "Jareth, I don't want the world believing you're..."

"That I am what?" Jareth said, his voice coming out louder than he intended.

Jareth could see Sarah blinking back tears. "A fraud."

"You're worried they're right," Jareth said.

"What?"

"You're worried they're right about me."

"No," Sarah said. She stood up and walked towards Jareth.

"That's why you're so upset. You can't even entertain the possibility that they might be right. You're afraid that you've been taken in as well," Jareth said.

"No I'm not," Sarah said as she tried to take Jareth's hand.

He pulled back from her. "Moriarty is playing with your mind too." He slammed the side of his fist against the wall. "Can't you see what's going on?"

They looked at each other, both breathing heavily. Sarah held her arms open to Jareth.

"No, I know you're real."

"A hundred percent?" Jareth asked.

Sarah slowly wrapped her arms around Jareth, but did not apply much pressure until Jareth hugged her back. "I said I believed in you over a year ago. I know you, Jareth. Underneath it all, you are a good man. You would never do something like this. It is against your nature. Besides, no one could fake being so annoying all the time."

Jareth gave a quiet laugh.

Sarah ran her hands up and down Jareth's back. "It scares you more that I wouldn't believe in you then if the rest of the world doesn't."

Jareth sighed and kissed the top of Sarah's head. "I love you, Sarah."

"I love you too, Jareth. Come on. I'll make us some tea while you figure out how to prove that you're innocent.

&%&%&%

A little later, Sarah answered a phone call. After hanging up, she said. "We still have some friends on the Force. It's Lestrade. He says they're all coming over here right now, lining up to slap on the handcuffs. Every single officer you ever made feel like a moron is coming, which is a lot of people."

Mrs. Hudson knocked on the closed living room door before entering. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting? Some chap delivered a parcel. I forgot. Marked 'Perishable' – I had to sign for it."

Jareth took the bag and saw the owl wax seal on the back of the envelope.

"Funny name. German, like the fairy tales," Mrs. Hudson said.

Jareth opened the envelope and pulled out a large gingerbread man. "Burnt to a crisp," he said.

They heard sirens outside of 221 Baker Street turn off. Doors started to slam as people got out of their cars.

"What does it mean?" Sarah asked.

The doorbell rang and someone pounded on the door. "POLICE!"

"I'll go," Mrs. Hudson said. She moved down the stairs as quickly as she could. When she opened the door, she berated the officers as only Mrs. Hudson could.

Jareth put away the gingerbread man. Sarah went to help Mrs. Hudson. Jareth calmly looped his green scarf around his neck before putting on his coat. He could hear the argument down the stairs.

"Have you got a warrant? Do you, Lestrade?" Sarah said.

"Leave it, Sarah," Lestrade said.

"Really! Manners!" Mrs. Hudson said.

&%&%&%

After reading Jareth's rights, Lestrade said, "Jareth King, I'm arresting you on suspicion of abduction and kidnapping." The police officers standing next to Jareth put handcuffs on him.

"He's not resisting," Sarah said. She had an arm around Mrs. Hudson who was almost in tears.

"It's all right, Sarah," Jareth said.

"He's not resisting. No, it's not all right. This is ridiculous," Sarah said.

"Get him downstairs now," Lestrade said to the police officers.

The officers spun Jareth around and marched him out of the door. Jareth could hear Sarah begin to argue for him.

"Greg, you know you don't have to do..."

"Don't try to interfere, or I shall arrest you too, Sarah," Lestrade said.

As Jareth walked out of 221 Baker Street, he heard the Chief Superintendent say to a subordinate officer, "It's off to the labs with him, most likely. Get out the irons."

Jareth was made to face towards and lean against the side of a police car. There were people taking pictures on their camera phones. He could see the bright glint of goblin eyes in the shadows across the street.

"Are you all right, sir?" a police officer said.

Jareth turned his head and saw that the Chief Superintendent was holding a handkerchief to a bloody nose. The consulting detective started laughing and had to press his face into the roof of the police car to calm himself down. He felt someone slammed into the car. He turned and grinned.

Sarah said, "Howdy, Clyde. Apparently it's against the law to punch the Chief Superintendent. Boys, rough me up a little. It makes my guy tingly in all the right places."

"You seem to have regained some of your energy," Jareth said.

"I haven't slept in about thirty-six hours. It does funny things to your head," Sarah said, "The chief said they were sending you back to the labs. I couldn't stand by and let that happen. Where you go, I go."

The police officers removed Jareth's handcuffs before clasping one iron to his left wrist and the connecting iron to Sarah's right wrist. It seemed to be blessed only against general magic and not specifically against goblins, so Jareth had some time before the iron began to eat at his energy.

"Sarah, what does the Doctor do an awful lot of?" Jareth said as he eyed a radio lying on the dashboard of the car.

"Running?" Sarah said, "No. Bad. Bad idea. Bad Jareth."

"Too late," Jareth said.

He reached through the open window of the car with his free hand and pressed down on the talk button. All of the police officers with ear pieces doubled over in pain and ripped out their ear pieces as a high-pitched squeal of feedback was let out. Jareth reached behind him with his left hand and pulled a gun from one of the officer's. He raised it in the air, pulling Sarah's hand with him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, will you all please get on your knees?" Jareth said.

"Who died and made you burdened with glorious purpose?" Sarah muttered.

When nobody reacted fast enough, Jareth raised the gun further before firing the gun twice. "NOW would be good!"

"Do as he says!" Lestrade said as he motioned everyone to move down.

The police began to kneel. Jareth and Sarah began to walk away.

Sarah said loudly, "Just so you're aware, the gun is his idea. I'm just a... you know..."

Jareth transferred the gun to his right hand and aimed it at Sarah's head. "...my hostage."

"Um. Yes. Hostage. Eek," Sarah said dryly.

"You could be a bit more convincing," Jareth muttered.

"There are many reasons why I did not become an actress," Sarah said. "So what now?"

"We will do what Moriarty wants. I'm becoming a fugitive. Run," Jareth said.

They ran down the road and turned right as quickly as they could. After running for about a minute, they could hear sirens at the junction ahead of them. Jareth swerved to his left and dropped the gun. Sarah tried to pick up the gun but Jareth shoved Sarah down a side alley.

"Leave it," Jareth said.

The Labyrinth of London quickly hid them from the police. Eventually, the iron cuffs began wearing at Jareth and he stopped to catch his breath for a moment.

"Everybody wants to believe it – that's what makes it so clever. A lie that's preferable to the truth. All my brilliant deductions were just a sham. No one feels inadequate. Jareth King is just an ordinary mad man," Jareth said.

"You could never ordinary, though you are definitely mad. But, we're all a little mad here," Sarah said, "Maybe Mycroft or your family…"

"Mycroft already told you he would not help. My family is probably already receiving unwanted attention from the High Court for my arrest," Jareth said.

Jareth spun them around in a circle to look behind where they came. Sarah elbowed him with her cuffed arm to turn him to a specific direction. "We're being followed. I knew we couldn't outrun the police."

"It's not the police. It's one of our new neighbors," Jareth said.

Sarah looked down the main road. "They'll protect you if you are in danger, right?" Sarah said.

"Yes," Jareth said.

"I hope I am not literally throwing us under the bus," Sarah said.

Sarah dragged Jareth into the street as a double decker bus quickly approached them. She stopped in the middle of the street. The assassin ran into the road and threw himself at them to shove them out of the way of the bus. They tumbled to the ground. Before the assassin recovered, Jareth pulled a gun from the assassin's jeans. He aimed it at the man.

"Tell me what you want from Jareth," Sarah said.

The man stared wide-eyed, but he did not speak.

"I would do as she says," Jareth said.

The man still did not speak.

"Give me the gun, Jareth. You didn't win the county fair's shooting competition three years in a row," Sarah said.

"He left it at your flat," the assassin said.

"Who?" Jareth said.

"Moriarty," the assassin said.

"What did he leave?" Jareth said.

All three of them began to get to their feet; Jareth never took the gun off the assassin.

"The computer keycode."

"Of course. He's selling it – the program he used to break into the Tower. He planted it when he came around," Jareth said.

Three gunshots rang out and the assassin hit the ground. Jareth tried to find the source, but decided it was better to keep running. They ducked into an open doorway when sirens came close. The two stopped to catch their breath again.

"It's a game-changer. It's a key. It can break into any system including magic based and it's sitting in our flat right now. That's why he left that message telling everyone where to come. 'Get Jareth.' We need to get back into the flat and search," Jareth said.

"CID will be camped out. Why plant it on you?" Sarah asked.

"It's another subtle way of smearing my name. Now I'm bosom companions with all those criminals," Jareth said.

Sarah pulled a copy of _The Sun _from a pile of newspapers. "Yeah, well, have you seen this? A kiss and tell. Some guy named Richard Brook. Who is he?"

&%&%&%

A/N: Glitter filled water balloons for catching any or all of the three references: GND, _Avengers_, or _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_.


	9. Chapter IX: And Hardships Unnumbered

Chapter IX: And Hardships Unnumbered

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

Her name was Kitty Riley. She was a journalist who worked for human and magical newspapers. Jareth loathed her. Why, he would not tell Sarah beyond that Riley was the type of journalist that Sarah's mother warned her about. Jareth used a credit card to jimmy the reporter's front door open. After a brief look around, they sat on a couch in the dark waiting for Kitty to come home. Jareth left the door open ajar as an invitation-to-enter/warning that someone had broken into the apartment.

"Can I rest against you?" Jareth asked.

"We should look for a hair pin instead," Sarah said.

"Always make an entrance," Jareth said.

"Unless you are going to assassinate someone. You might not want to announce yourself then."

Jareth chuckled. The couple maneuvered around so that Jareth could rest his head on Sarah's lap.

"Lazing about on the furniture is making an entrance?" Sarah said.

"I am making myself at home. It will throw her off guard," Jareth said.

For a little less than half an hour, Sarah and Jareth sat together speaking softly. Sarah's magic was not affected by the iron so she gave some restorative energy to Jareth. Finally, Kitty Riley cautiously entered and flipped on the light.

Jareth smirked from his comfortable position on Sarah's lap. "Too late to go on the record?"

&%&%&%

Sarah really should not have been thinking about how graceful Jareth was as he picked the locks on their iron cuffs. She had lived with him long enough to know that this was not something he put much effort into. Sarah always had to focus if she wanted to move gracefully; Jareth would be half-asleep without his tea and he still would walk around the kitchen in a sheet as if he was the Sugarplum Cavalier.

Jareth did not speak until both of their cuffs were undone. He kissed Sarah's wrist before he began pacing in front of Kitty Riley.

"Congratulations. The truth about Jareth the former Goblin King. The scoop that everybody wanted and you got it. Bravo!" Jareth clapped sarcastically.

Kitty spoke calmly, "I gave you your opportunity. I wanted to be on your side, remember? You turned me down, so..."

"And then, behold, someone turns up and gives you a tell all. How utterly convenient. Who is Brook?" Jareth said.

Kitty shook her head.

"Oh, do tell Ms. Riley. No one trusts the voice at the end of a telephone. There are all those furtive little meetings in cafés; those sessions in the hotel room where he babbled into your Dictaphone."

The way Jareth said the last sentence made Sarah realize that Kitty had probably tried to come onto Jareth at some point. Since Irene, Jareth had been careful how he interacted with women so as not to give Sarah any reason to doubt his faithfulness. She had seen a woman flirt with Jareth though the woman had seen Jareth kiss Sarah. Jareth had viciously torn apart the woman with deductions until she left him alone. The same had probably been done with Riley.

Kitty seemed more on edge at this point, but still gave no answer.

"How do you know that you can trust him? What were his credentials?" Jareth asked.

The sound of someone coming through the main door caught everyone's attention. Jim Moriarty pushed open the door. He was wearing casual clothes and walked in with a shopping bag.

Jim said, "Darling, they didn't have any ground coffee so I just got normal..."

He stopped talking when he saw Jareth and dropped the bag and backed himself up against the wall, his hands protectively in front of him. Sarah was trying to process what was happening.

Jim voice shook as he spoke. "You said that they wouldn't find me here. You said that I'd be safe here."

"You are safe, Richard. I'm a witness. He wouldn't harm you in front of witnesses," Kitty said.

"You're right. He wouldn't hurt Jimmy. I would," Sarah said.

Sarah then launched herself at Moriarty but Jareth grabbed her before she could hurt Jim. She had heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. Sarah became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of her as she screamed.

"So that's your source? Moriarty is Richard Brook?" Sarah said when she finally stopped shouting expletives.

"Of course he's Richard Brook. There is no Moriarty or Doyle. There never has been," Kitty said.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah said.

"Look him up. Rich Brook – an actor Jareth hired to be Moriarty," Kitty said.

Brook was still frightened, "Ms. Williams, I know you're a good person. You wouldn't hurt an innocent. Don't... don't h... Don't hurt me."

"No, you are Moriarty! He's Moriarty! We've met, remember? You were going blow me up!" Sarah said.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He paid me. I needed the work. I'm an actor. I was out of work. I'm sorry, okay?" Rich said.

"Jareth, you'd better explain this because I'm not getting it," Sarah said.

"Oh I'll... I'll be doing the explaining – in print. Think you can resist homicide long enough to read this?" Kitty said as she picked up a folder.

Sarah snatched the folder and began flipping through it. Jareth kept his eyes on Moriarty.

"It's all here – conclusive proof," Kitty said.

"Jareth's a fake! He invented all the crimes," Sarah read aloud.

Kitty spoke to Jareth, "You invented James Moriarty, your nemesis."

"Invented him?" Sarah growled.

"Invented all the crimes, actually – and to cap it all, you made up a master villain. Not that it would take you much imagination to do that," Kitty said.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Sarah said.

"Ask him. He's right here! Just ask him. Tell her, Richard," Kitty said.

"He's been put on trial twice!" Sarah said.

"Yes and you paid him; paid him to take the rap. Promised you'd rig the jury. Not exactly a West End role, but I'll bet the money was good," Kitty said. She went to Brook and put her arm around his shoulders. "But not so good he didn't want to sell his story."

Richard put his hands together and pleaded, "I am sorry. I am. I am sorry."

"So this is the story that you're going to publish. The big conclusion of it all: Moriarty is an actor? Do you realize how blatant of a lie it is? Do you really think the Goblin Kingdom, the Courts, Scotland Yard, and the British government all just happened to miss this? Jareth is physically incapable of lying."

"I never said he did lie. I am saying he's lost his mind. Losing his power alone could do that. But the labs?" Kitty shook her head.

"I have proof. I have proof. Show him, Kitty! Show her something!" Richard said.

"Yeah, show me something," Sarah said. She rolled her eyes at Jim.

Kitty handed Sarah another folder. Jareth release his grip on Sarah. There were: multiple copies of Richard Brook's contact details apparently taken from an agency website; then a newspaper article showing a picture of Richard in glasses wearing medical scrubs and with a stethoscope around his neck; and other things showing Jim Moriarty as an actor.

"I'm on TV. I'm on kids' TV. I'm The Storyteller. I'm... I'm The Storyteller. It's on DVD," Richard said as Sarah flipped through the files.

"Just tell her. It's all coming out now. It's all over," Richard said.

Sarah glanced at Jareth. She immediately realized that Jareth was figuring out the best way to kill the man who cowered before him. Jareth was too still everywhere but his eyes which were looking everywhere. Sarah brushed her hand against Jareth's and he did not react.

"Just tell them. Just tell them. Tell her! It's all over now... NO!" Moriarty shouted the last word when Jareth began to move towards him. "Don't you touch me! Don't you lay a finger on me!"

"Stop this now, Doyle," Jareth said in such a calm way that it made Sarah shiver.

Jareth took another step towards Moriarty and Jim bolted. He ran into a bathroom and slammed the door behind him. It took Jareth a moment to get it open but by then it was too late. Jim had slipped through an open window in the bathroom. There was a crash that sounded like James had landed on top of a garbage can.

"He'll have back-up," Jareth said. He moved back towards the front door.

Kitty stood in front of Jareth, momentarily stopping him. "Do you know what, Jareth King? I look at you now and I can read you. And you... repel... me."

Jareth moved around the reporter. Sarah was less polite and shoved Kitty out of the way. Jareth and Sarah quickly went out into the empty street. The detective began pacing.

"Can he do that? Completely change his identity and make you look like an insane criminal mastermind?" Sarah asked.

"Do you still have those papers?" Jareth asked.

Sarah did and she let Jareth glance over Kitty's research and article. Jareth suddenly slammed shut the folder and gave it back to Sarah.

"He has my whole life story. That is what you do when you sell a big lie; you wrap it up in the truth to make it more palatable," Jareth

"Your word against his," Sarah said, "Even though Jimmy can lie and you can't, the High Court will be more than willing to help him because they want to get rid of your family."

"He's been sowing doubt into people's minds for the last twenty-four hours. There's only one thing he needs to do to complete his game, and that's to..." Jareth stopped speaking and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jareth?" Sarah said. She took Jareth's free hand in her own.

Jareth looked up at Sarah. "There is something I need to do."

"What? Can I help?" Sarah asked.

"No. Not in this. I need you to go speak to Mycroft about the article," Jareth said.

"Okay. I can do that," Sarah said.

She pulled Jareth down for a brief kiss good-bye but he turned it into a much more passionate moment. "Be careful, precious," Jareth whispered.

&%&%&%

Sarah waited in Mycroft's private room at the Diogenes Club. As she read the articles, she noticed two things. One was about Jareth's stay in the labs. Yes, there were records, but certain details were about Jareth's emotional state afterwards that Sarah knew were not recorded for posterity. There was also an odd detail about Jareth's favorite toy as a child. There were few people who had access to information on Jareth's childhood before the Labyrinth.

Mycroft stopped at the door when he saw Sarah sitting in the armchair she had used earlier that day.

"She has really done her homework, Ms. Riley. These are things that only someone close to Jareth could know," Sarah said.

"And you think I had something to do with it," Mycroft said as he shut the door.

"Oh, I know you did," Sarah said, "Sherlock doesn't even know that Jareth tried to kill himself when you let him out of the labs. He wanted to die because his mind had been scrambled by telepaths so badly he couldn't even remember his family's names. He didn't tell me until after we were bound. You, however, were the only one who dealt with Jareth for about a month after the labs."

Mycroft sat across from Sarah but was silent.

Sarah continued speaking. "So how does it work, then, your relationship? Do you and Jimmy go out for coffee?" Sarah gripped the arms of the chair. "Jareth trusts you enough that he asks you to help me. He is probably the only person who can even begin to understand your brother. Why would you tell Jimmy this stuff? Even if you hate Jareth, how could you hurt Sherlock this way?"

"I never inten... I never dreamed..."

"Shut up. I'm not done talking," Sarah said, "Was this why you talked to me earlier? You were trying to tell me 'Watch his back, because I've made a mistake'?" She threw the papers at Mycroft. "How did you even meet Moriarty?"

Mycroft cleared his throat before speaking. "People like him: we know about them; we watch them. But James Moriarty... the most dangerous criminal mind the world has ever seen, and in his pocket the ultimate weapon: a keycode. A few lines of computer code that could unlock any door."

"And you abducted him to try and find the keycode?"

"Interrogated him for weeks."

"And?"

"He wouldn't play along. He just sat there, staring into the darkness. The only thing that made him open up…" Mycroft gave a humorless laugh. "I could get him to talk... just a little, but..."

"… you would tell him Jareth's secrets," Sarah said. She looked away for a moment, took a shaky breath, and then returned to staring down Mycroft. "Who else?"

Mycroft finally made eye contact with Sarah. "What?"

"Who else would Moriarty talk to? There is information here that only one of Jareth's family members could know."

"I don't…"

"I'm sick of you lying to me, Mycroft. Was Christiana trying to protect the goblins? Did Dante try to get information so he could help Rumpelstiltskin overthrow Oberon? Did Rumpelstiltskin do it himself?"

Mycroft, for the first time in Sarah's acquaintance with him, looked sorry.

"Just tell me."

"I did," a feminine voice said.

Joanna stepped out of the shadows.

"What?" Sarah said.

"Mr. Holmes, would you please leave us for a moment?" Joanna said.

"Yes, ma'am," Mycroft said. He stood up and spoke to Sarah. "I am sorry. Tell him, would you?"

Sarah began shaking. Mycroft poured her a drink before he left. She drank it in one gulp as Joanna sat in Mycroft's seat.

"This is a bad joke, Joanna," Sarah said.

"Unfortunately, it isn't," Joanna said. She looked past Sarah.

"Wh… wh… why?" Sarah said. She blinked away tears. "Jareth… Jareth is your… brother. He a… adores you."

"I know."

"You ran the Labyrinth…"

"I know."

"I… I can't even… understand… how… how… I have Toby and…"

"But you do not have children of your own," Joanna said, finally looking Sarah in the eye. "I have spent almost my entire life as a mother. I would kill my own husband to make sure Dante and Christiana were safe.

"James has been working closely with Oberon the past few months. Oberon is aware that his power is waning while my husband's is growing. We are at a tipping point. Three hundred years of planning and it is all worthless if Oberon has Moriarty's keycode.

"You saw what happened when the Gremlin King attacked the Labyrinth. I could have lost my daughter that day. It is still a strong possibility. If we have that keycode, I can make sure my children are safe from…."

Sarah cut Joanna off. "Moriarty has sworn to destroy Jareth. Do you not care what happens to your own brother?"

Joanna spoke sharply. "Don't you dare confuse my love for my children with a hatred of Jareth. I love my brother. I would do almost anything for him. _Almost_ being the key word, Sarah. Do you really think Jareth would want to live in exchange for Dante or Christiana's life?"

"You didn't have to do this. Jareth would have personally given a gun to James if it meant saving them. Now, he is going to have to live with the fact that you betrayed him. He will never recover from that."

Sarah stood, her legs barely holding her up. "I am going to say something that I have never said before; I will never forgive you for this. I hope you never know again how much Jareth loves you. I hope you live the rest of your long, long life in misery." Sarah then ran out of the room before she gave into her desire to rip Joanna apart.

&%&%&%

Jareth was in the library at Bart's, his back against one of the bookshelves. He was bouncing a small rubber ball off the floor and wall in front of him. Sarah did not speak but just watched Jareth for several moments.

"Precious, come here," Jareth said.

Sarah came to Jareth in silence and knelt next to him.

"So, how is my sister?"

"You know?"

Jareth nodded and put the rubber ball in his pocket. He wrapped his arms around Sarah and nestled his head against Sarah's shoulder and neck. Sarah held him tight against her.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said.

"It's not… it's not your fault," Jareth said.

Sarah's shoulder became damp and Jareth was shaking.

"I'm not mad at her. I know why she did it," Jareth said, "Please don't hate her. For me, please Sarah."

"She hurt you. How can I not hate her?"

Jareth sighed but pulled Sarah to him. "Comfortable, precious?"

"Of course," Sarah said.

Jareth's breathing was heavy and he was still shaking.

Sarah sang softly, "There's such a sad love/Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel/Open and closed within your eyes/I'll place the sky within your eyes…"

&%&%&%

Sarah woke up, not realizing she had fallen asleep. Jareth had moved the both of them to a reading chair.

"Hmmm… did you sleep?" Sarah asked. She slipped her hand under Jareth's shirt and rubbed her thumb over Jareth's heart.

"No," Jareth said.

"What's the plan?" Sarah asked.

"Get the keycode and prove that Moriarty is real," Jareth said.

"Do you know where it is?" Sarah asked.

"I have an idea," Jareth said.

"Hmmm… we'll figure it out," Sarah said. She kissed the side of Jareth's neck. "You are my favorite smell. How can you smell so good?"

Jareth kissed Sarah's forehead. "Sarah, I…"

Sarah's phone began to ring. "Just a second, Jareth."

As Sarah answered the phone, Jareth stroked her hair. "Hello? Yes, speaking... What." Sarah jumped to her feet. "What happened? Is she okay? Oh my God. Right, yes, I'm coming."

Sarah rubbed her face to make her wake up completely as she turned off her phone.

"What is it?" Jareth said.

"Paramedics. Mrs. Hudson has been shot."

"How?"

"Well, probably one of the killers you managed to attract. Damn. Damn. Damn. She's dying, Jareth. Let's go." Sarah began to leave.

"You go. I'm busy," Jareth said.

Sarah froze. "Excuse me. Did you just say you were busy."

"Thinking. I need to think," Jareth said.

Sarah spun around. "You need to...? Doesn't she mean anything to you? You once half killed a man because he laid a finger on her."

Jareth shrugged. "She's my landlady."

"She's dying." Sarah said.

"So? It happens."

"Is that what you're going to say when I'm dying?"

"Possibly."

"You're… inhuman. You are… terrible. A monster. Don't… I don't want to be near you. You know what? Damn it. You are evil. You are worse than Jim. You know why? Moriarty kills people he doesn't know and feels nothing. You are just going to let someone who has cared for you like a son for ten years die and you just brush it off. Damn it. That's evil. Show that you are a good man and come with me."

"I will not go. You have no power over me," Jareth said.

Sarah stormed out.

&%&%&%

She was half-way down the hallway outside the library when she stopped and turned around. Guilt was overwhelming her.

Jareth was in the same spot, sprawled on the chair with his eyes covered by his hand. She walked over to Jareth and took his free hand.

"I am mad at you but I don't think you're evil. I think you don't understand what you need to and it frustrates me that you don't feel what a human is supposed to feel. I sometimes forget that you are mostly goblin."

Jareth moved his hand to his mouth. He looked at Sarah but did not speak.

"But no matter how upset I am, I want you to know I still love you," Sarah said.

Jareth pulled Sarah down to his level and kissed her, their teeth clicking against each other's from how hard they came together. They were gasping when Sarah broke away.

"I'm still mad at you, Jareth."

"Of course."

"But I still love you."

"And I love you."

"We will deal with this later."

Jareth was quiet. Sarah took that as a "yes" and left to go help Mrs. Hudson.

&%&%&%

Sarah ran out of the cab and into 221. In front of the stairs was a man on a stepladder drilling a hole in the wall. Mrs. Hudson was standing nearby.

"Mrs. Hudson!" Sarah said.

"Oh, God, Sarah! You made me jump!" Mrs. Hudson said.

"But…"

"Is everything okay now with the police? Has Jareth sorted it all out?"

"Oh no. Oh God no."

"Sarah. What's wrong?"

_"I must face him alone," Sarah said._

_"Why?" Sir Didymus asked._

_"Yes," Hoggle said._

_"Because that's the way it's done," Sarah said._

_"If that's the way it's done, then that's the way you must do it," Sir Didymus._

Sarah ran out of 221 Baker Street and hailed a cab. She called Jareth once she was in the cab and got his voice mail.

"Jareth, I am coming. I know that this is the way it's done, but should you need me, you can always call me. Please, please come back safe."

&%&%&%

A/N: I did not realize until I was half-way through writing this story that I would have to write the scene with Joanna. It was one of the most painful things I have ever written. I have a younger sister and… yeah. It was rough.

On a lighter note, glitter bazookas to anyone who caught the reference to _A Christmas Story_.


	10. Chapter X: As the World Falls Down

Chapter X: As the World Falls Down

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains suicides with a more graphic description of violence than I usually have written for this series.

&%&%&%

Jareth remembered people's names more than he let on to the general public. It was important as a king to know one's subjects as best as one could. He would "forget" Hoggle's name because the dwarf annoyed him. He "forgot" Molly's name because he was trying to see the strength of her patience. After five years working with Dr. Hooper, Jareth could safely say that Molly was truly one of the most patient people he knew.

Molly was also deeply loyal to Sarah and that was something that made Jareth more likely to trust someone.

Jareth sat in Molly's lab and waited for Molly to come out of her office. He came to Bart's as soon as he read the article.

Molly sighed when she turned off the lights in the lab and walked to the exit.

"You're wrong, you know," Jareth said.

Molly spun around and gasped.

"You do count. You have always counted and I have trusted you for a long time," Jareth said. He moved towards her. "But you were right. I'm not okay."

"Tell me what's wrong," Molly said.

"Molly… I think I'm going to die," Jareth said.

"What do you need?" Molly asked.

Jareth stopped in front of Molly. "If I wasn't everything that you think I am… everything that I think I am… what… what Sarah thinks I am, would you still want to help me?"

"What do you need?" Molly asked again.

"You, Dr. Hooper," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

When Sarah had fallen asleep in the library, Jareth sent a text to Moriarty. "Come and play. St. Bart's Hospital rooftop. P.S. Got something of yours you might want back."

&%&%&%

A little after Sarah left for Baker Street, Jareth got a reply. "I'm waiting... JM".

&%&%&%

Jareth was putting on his coat when Christiana came to him. "Kinsman, what are you doing?" the Goblin King said.

"I have something I must do," Jareth said.

"Are you going after the Gremlin King?" Christiana asked.

Jareth was silent.

"He will kill you, kinsman."

"I am aware of that Rossetti."

"Don't go."

"I have to."

"To save Sarah? I can… I can bring you both to the Labyrinth."

Jareth paused in his preparations. "I am banished, Christiana."

"It doesn't matter. Father is going to overthrow Oberon in the next few days." Christiana grabbed her uncle's arm. "You can come home. You can bring Sarah with you. You can be King of the Goblins again and Sarah will be your Queen. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

Jareth hugged his niece. "It doesn't matter what I want. Would you be able to protect all of my friends? Could you promise they would survive the war that will come?"

Christiana took a shaky breath. "No."

"If I end Moriarty's reign in this world, the people I care about here will not be pulled into that war."

"You don't know that," Christiana said. She refused to look up at Jareth.

"I am not important in the eyes of the High Court since I have no blood heirs and there is no possibility that there are heirs. Even if the worse happens today, my friends will be safe because why would the High Court care about humans?"

"What about us in the Underground?" Christiana pulled back.

"You will live on. I'm not important," Jareth said.

Christiana pinched Jareth's arm. "Never say that. You are important. If you… if you… it would be like pulling one thread and the entire tapestry comes undone. You don't see how important… important you are to us."

Jareth hugged Christiana again. They both started to cry.

"I remember the day you were born. I had gone to sleep because of how long the labor was. Your Father yanked me out of bed to show you off to me. I sat by the window in the little box seat in my childhood room. The sun was coming through the windows. You were born blonde and you looked so beautiful and glowing in the light of the sunrise. You were the reason… the reason I know that… you can love multiple people because, I still loved Dante and… thank you, Christiana, for making me better. I would never… have loved more than one person at any point in my life… if you… had… hadn't been born. My little Christiana. My goblin princess. My Goblin King."

"I can't lose someone else…"

"You will make it. You will survive. You will live. When you lose someone, live or else the dreams you built together with that person will be meaningless. Did I ever tell you that?"

Christiana nodded.

"It is true, even though it hurts. It hurts because it is true."

Jareth sang a quiet lullaby that he only knew a few words to, but it was the song Joanna sang to him before he was wished-away. It comforted him then and it comforted him now.

&%&%&%

"I have to go," Jareth said after a few minutes.

Christiana pulled back and wiped away the last of her wayward tears. Jareth kissed her forehead. "Tell the others. Dante, your Father, your… Mother, that I love them. And Christiana… I love you very much."

"I love you too, Uncle Jareth."

Christiana made a sweeping bow. "Goblin King."

Jareth bowed as well. "Goblin King."

&%&%&%

_"Do you want to know the first rule of being Goblin King is, Jareth?"_

_The little boy nodded, looking on in awe at the magical creature before him. _

_"Always make an entrance."_

Jareth had chosen the roof for many reasons. The least of which was the drama of it all. The sky above. The city of London surrounding St. Bart's. All of it made the roof less of a wasteland of necessary machines and empty spaces and more of a beginning of things.

Or the ending of things.

Jareth left his coat unbuttoned so that it flowed dramatically behind him. Everything he wore was black and white save for the green scarf.

Jim was sitting on the edge of the roof on the ledge with his phone in his hand as The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" played. He was wearing a medium length coat (not as dramatic as Jareth's, but it did have a leather collar which was a nice touch), a shirt so light pink it was almost white, his normal black suit, and a tie with a light pattern. Jareth was somewhat amazed that when facing his death the first thing he thought about was if his nemesis was better dressed than him. If Sarah got past the horror of this meeting, she would laugh at Jareth's vanity.

He would miss her laugh.

As Jareth walked toward Jim, Moriarty started to speak. "Ah. Here we are at last – you and me, Jareth, and our problem – the final problem. Stayin' alive! It's so boring, isn't it?" Moriarty switched off the phone. "It's just... staying."

Jareth began to pace.

Jim continued monologuing. "All my life I've been searching for distractions. You were the best distraction and now I don't even have you. Because I've beaten you. And you know what? In the end it was easy."

Jareth stopped pacing and folded his hands behind his back.

Moriarty seemed sorrowful. "It was easy. Now I've got to go back to playing with the ordinary people. And it turns out you're ordinary just like all of them. Ah well." Jim stood up and walked closer to Jareth. Then he began to circle the detective. "Did you almost start to wonder if I was real? Did I nearly get you?"

"Richard Brook," Jareth said, a slight smile on his face.

"Nobody seems to get the joke, but you do," Jim said.

"Of course. German was the second language I learned. Rich Brook in German is Reichen Bach – the case that made my name."

Moriarty used a bad American accent. "Just tryin' to have some fun."

Jareth tapped his fingers.

"Good. You got that too," Jim said.

"Beats like digits. Every beat is a one; every rest is a zero. Binary code. That is why all those assassins tried to save my life. It was hidden on me; hidden inside my head – a few simple lines of computer code that can break into any system."

"I told all my clients: last one to Sherlock is a sissy," Jim said.

"You made one mistake though. Most would think it was binary code what you did in the flat, including your clients. But then, you are speaking to a man who had dinner with Bach, his second wife, and most of his children," Jareth said, "'Partita number one' by Johann Sebastian Bach. You know, none of the music sounds right, even with historically accurate instruments. I want to scratch out my ear drums sometimes at modern interpretations. That's why I didn't catch it at first. You must have given the code when you were tapping your fingers when Sarah gave her testimony. Very brazen of you."

Jim looked at Jareth for a moment and then turned away. "No, no, no, no, no, this is too easy. This is too easy." He turned back to Jareth. "There is no key, DOOFUS! Those digits are meaningless. They're utterly meaningless."

Jareth was silent but obviously confused.

"You don't really think a couple of lines of computer code are gonna crash the world around our ears? I'm disappointed." Jim lumbered across the roof and made himself sound moronic, "I'm disappointed in you, ordinary Jareth."

"But… the war…"

"Will be Hell like it always is. No one has a major advantage."

"But then how did..."

"Then how did I break into the Bank, to the Tower, to the Prison?" James spread his arms wide "Daylight robbery! All it takes is some willing participants. I knew you'd fall for it. That's your weakness – you always want everything to be clever. Now, shall we finish the game? One final act. Glad you chose a tall building. It's a nice way to do it."

"Do… do what James?" After thinking it over, Jareth then turned to Jim. "Yes, of course. My suicide."

"'Genius Detective Proved to Be an Insane Fraud'. I read it in the paper, so it must be true. I love newspapers. Fairy tales."

Jareth and Jim walked to the edge of the roof and leaned slightly forward to see the ground below them.

"And pretty Grimm ones too," Jim said.

"I am glad you have learned the importance of puns," Jareth said dryly. He turned towards Moriarty. "I can still prove that you created an entirely false identity."

Jim sighed. "Oh, just kill yourself. It's a lot less effort."

Jareth began to pace again.

"Go on. For me Goblin King. Pleeeeeease?"

Jareth grabbed Jim by the coat collar. The detective pushed Jim towards the edge of the roof.

"I am sorry James. I should have killed you when you said you wanted to kill Carl at the latest if not when you were in my custody. You would not have become this if I did that. You. Are. Insane."

"You're just getting that now?"

Jareth pushed Jim far enough that he was holding Jim's upper body over empty air. Moriarty held his hands out wide, unafraid.

"Okay, let me give you a little extra incentive, Goblin King. Your pets will die if you don't."

"Sarah?"

"Not just Sarah."

"Mrs. Hudson?"

"Everyone."

"Sherlock? Toby?"

"Everyone."

"Lestrade? John?"

"Six bullets; six gunmen; six victims. There's no stopping them now."

Jareth yanked Jim back to safety.

"Unless my people see you jump." Jim shook himself free of Jareth's grasp and smiled. "You can have me arrested; you can torture me; you can do anything you like with me; but nothing is gonna prevent them from pulling the trigger. Your only six friends in the world will die... unless..."

"...unless I kill myself. Complete your story of me as the cackling villain in the fairy tale."

Jim nodded and his smile grew wider. "You've gotta admit that's sexier."

"And I die in disgrace."

"Of course. That's the point of this," James said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

They both looked over the edge again. There were people beginning to come and go as the sun continued to rise, though the light was beginning to be obscured by rain clouds.

"Oh, you've got an audience now. Off you pop. Go on."

Jareth stepped onto the ledge slowly.

"I told you how this ends, Jareth."

Jareth looked down and his gloved hands shook.

"Your death is the only thing that's going to call off the killers. I'm certainly not gonna do it."

"…Would you give me... one moment, please? One moment of privacy, Doyle? A courtesy from one king to another?"

James looked disappointed. "Of course."

Jareth closed his eyes as Jim walked a few paces away. Jareth began to take several shallow breaths. He opened his eyes when he realized something James had said. The former Goblin King began to smile and then he honestly laugh.

Jim spun around. "What? What is it? What did I miss?"

Jareth turned and hoped back onto the roof and walked towards Moriarty. "'You're not going to do it.' So the killers can be called off, then. There is a recall code or a word or a number." He began to circle around James. "I don't have to die if I've got you."

Moriarty laughed in delight. "Oh! You think you can make me stop the order? You think you can make me do that?"

"Yes. So do you."

"Jareth, your big, bad brother-in-law and all the King's horses couldn't make me do a thing I didn't want to."

Jareth stopped and placed himself very close to Jim, their noses almost touching. "Yes, but I'm not my kinsman, remember? I am you – prepared to do anything; prepared to burn; prepared to do what ordinary people won't do. You want me to shake hands with you in hell? I shall not disappoint you."

Jim shook his head slowly. "Nah. You talk big. Nah. You're ordinary… You're ordinary – you're on the side of the angels."

"Oh, I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one second that I am one of them."

The enemies locked eyes with each other. Analyzing. Testing. Deducing.

"No, you're not," Jim said. He smiled. "I see. You're not ordinary. No. You're me." James laughed. "You're me! Thank you!"

James offered his hand to his equal. "Jareth, the once and future Goblin King." Jareth took Jim's hand. "Thank you. Bless you."

Moriarty blinked a few times and lowered his gaze, but he did not let go of Jareth's hand. "As long as I'm alive, you can save your friends; you've got a way out."

Jareth relaxed very slightly.

Jim looked up and grinned. "Well, good luck with that."

Faster than Jareth could follow, Moriarty pulled a gun from his waistband and put it in his own mouth. Jareth pulled back and cried out in alarm. The shot went off and Jim fell instantly to the ground.

"Doyle! James!" Jareth said as he began to bend over to see if there was any hope of life. He jumped back when he saw blood, brains, and skull fragments trickling out of the back of Moriarty's head.

Jareth covered his mouth. "Oh God. James. I am so sorry. It's my fault. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I did this to you."

He began to look franticly around, trying to find a solution. Some angle he had not seen. The former Goblin King went through hundreds of different scenarios, even double checking the ones he already thought through earlier. Jareth paced by the ledge and then stopped.

There was no other way out.

His final problem.

His final solution.

His final bow.

Jareth stepped onto the ledge.

He dialed Sarah's phone.

&%&%&%

Jareth could see Sarah stepping out of the taxi and moving towards the hospital. He saw her answer her phone.

"Hello? Jareth? Did you get my message? Do you need me? Are you hurt?"

_Just fear me…_

"Sarah."

"Jareth, where are you?"

"Turn around and walk back the way you came now."

"No, I'm coming in. I need to be nearby in case you call for help. You are not facing this alone."

_Love me_…

"Just do as I say. Please."

"Where?" Sarah asked as she looked wildly around her as she went back the way she came.

"Stop there."

Sarah did. "Jareth?"

_Do as I say…_

"All right, look up. I'm on the rooftop."

She did.

"Oh God, Jareth."

_And I will be your slave._

"I... I... I can't come down, so we will... we will just have to do it like this."

"What's going on?"

"An apology… It's true," Jareth said.

"What? That's impossible."

"I created Moriarty," Jareth said. He looked back at James' body for a moment. "I created the monster. I created this nightmare."

"Why are you saying this?"

"I'm the villain, Sarah. Not the hero," Jareth said.

"Jareth…"

"The newspapers were right all along. I created the monster. I want you to tell Lestrade; I want you to tell Mrs. Hudson, and Molly, and Sherlock... in fact, tell anyone who will listen to you that I created Moriarty… I created this morbid fairy tale."

"Okay, shut up, Jareth, shut up. I have been your confidant for a year and a half. Your family has known you for over three centuries. We all believe that you are good. You had a brush with villainy, yes, but you came back. You redeemed yourself."

"No one can be redeemed."

"Everyone can. You have to ask for forgiveness and you did. And then you spend the rest of your life showing the world how you changed your ways."

"People only truly forgive you once you're dead," Jareth said.

"No. All right, stop it now," Sarah said, "I'm coming up there even if I puke the whole time because of how stinking high up you are." She began to walk towards the entrance.

"No, stay exactly where you are. Don't move."

Sarah moved back and held her free hand up towards Jareth.

"All right."

Jareth reached a hand towards Sarah. "Keep your eyes fixed on me. Please, will you do one thing for me?

"Do what?"

"I need you to say the Words."

Sarah covered her mouth.

"Sarah, say your right Words and mean it. It won't work unless you mean it."

"Damn. I can never remem… remember that line."

"Sarah, say it. Please. I ask for so little."

He could hear the soft sob over the phone that she tried to stop before she spoke clearly. "You have no power over me."

Jareth sighed in relief. _She is safe. She will survive. She is still my heroine. _"Farewell, Sarah Jane Williams, Champion of the Labyrinth."

_"Which way? Up or down?"_

Jareth tossed his phone to the side. Everything was in place. He just had to do one thing.

Sarah screamed his name.

_"Well, since I'm pointed that way, I guess I'll go down."_

Jareth understood now. He understood why she choose down. Up meant no direction and having no being. Up meant being just air. Down meant the solid ground. Down meant something permanent.

_"Falling is just like flying, except there is a more permanent destination."_

For the first time in thirteen years, Jareth tried to fly, though this time he knew he was only falling.

&%&%&%

Jareth fell, arms spread wide. Sarah did not see him land completely, but she saw just enough to know that he was not getting up. Never, not even in the Labyrinth, did Sarah run so fast… until she caught a glimpse of him. He was not moving. She saw blood.

A bicyclist knocked her off her feet and she slammed hard into the ground, causing her to hit her head against the pavement. Her ears were ringing. Sarah almost lost consciousness, but she knew she had to keep moving. She hissed in pain as she got up. There were several onlookers surrounding Jareth. Sarah staggered towards the crowd and pushed her way through.

"Jareth. Please. Jareth. Jareth! Please. Let me through. He's mine. Please. He's mine! Let me through!"

Sarah reached down for Jareth's wrist, searching for a pulse.

There was no sign of life.

Someone pulled Sarah's hand off Jareth's wrist and another person pulled Sarah away. Sarah tried to move forward but hospital personnel arrived with a wheeled stretcher. The medics rolled Jareth over. His face and blonde hair were stained with blood. His blue eyes were staring at Sarah but not seeing.

"No. God no. Please no. Please."

The medics wheeled the corpse away.

&%&%&%

A/N: *screams of anguish* I HATE YOU SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE! I HOPE YOU SPEND TIME REARRANGING THE CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS IN A LARGE LIBRARY!

One more chapter for "Up or Down?".


	11. Chapter XI: Lost and Lonely

Chapter XI: Lost and Lonely

The Almighty Disclaimer

Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson

Oh Henson and Doyle,

And Pika-la Cynique the generous,

To you belongs all the characters

And none so for me!

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

&%&%&%

"His blood needs to be cleaned up. His blood doesn't belong on the ground," Sarah said.

She kept saying it over and over again. Sarah had not moved since she fell to her knees when Jareth had been taken. She became violent every time someone tried to pull her away.

"Sarah, you need to get out of the rain," a familiar voice said.

Sarah's mind was too muddled to place it. The voice was not Jareth's so she did not really care at this point. Her vision was blurry from hitting her head so she did not see who was speaking to her.

"His blood needs to be cleaned up. His blood doesn't belong on the ground," Sarah said.

"No, it doesn't. Hold my coat, Sarah. I'll take care of it."

After a few minutes, the familiar voice said, "There's no blood left, Sarah."

"Can I… he…"

Sarah felt someone switch the coat for a wet jacket. She clutched it to her chest.

"You have to go inside."

"No."

"Sarah, would Jareth want you out in the rain like this?"

A warm, kind hand placed itself on Sarah's shoulder. The face was close enough that Sarah could finally see the owner of the voice.

"Greg… why are you here?" Sarah asked. She looked down and realized she was holding Lestrade's blood stained jacket.

"Because the news came to me and I had to see if it was true. I didn't realize you were here," Lestrade said, "I can't carry you, but I'll see if we can get you a wheelchair, all right?"

"Mrs.… Mrs. Hudson. Sherlock… Toby…" Sarah began to hyperventilate.

"I'll take care of that. You need to keep breathing. That's all you have to do, Sarah. Focus on breathing."

&%&%&%

There was very little that Sarah remembered of the next twelve hours.

Mrs. Hudson came with Donovan to bring a change of clothes for Sarah. After helping Sarah with the clothes, Mrs. Hudson began to cry. Sarah was too empty to do that.

Sherlock and John came later. She vaguely remembered Sherlock cussing out Lestrade and John having to hold Sherlock back from turning the inspector into a punching bag.

Molly came by crying and little else.

As Sarah entered and left shallow sleep, she could sometimes see Sherlock pacing out in the hall and other times being missing. John was always by Sarah's side. He turned on the television at some point but it was just noise and light to her.

Sarah found out later that she had a Grade II concussion and that was part of the reason she was having memory issues. The other was acute stress reaction.

It was not until her family arrived that Sarah's brain finally understood what happened.

"Sarah, it's me, Toby. I'm… I'm sorry." Toby began stroking her head like she stroked his when he was a small child. "I can't believe he's gone."

She felt someone take her hand. "Princess, it's Daddy. We're all here. The twins are with their Mom in the cafeteria."

"He fell," Sarah said softly, "It's… it's my fault. He died because of me. He was trying… trying to live up to my expectations."

Toby clung to his sister. "That's not true and you know it. I don't even know what happened and I know it's not true."

"He died… to be my hero."

"Then he's a lousy hero," Toby said.

"The bastard lied," Sarah said, "He said he'd be there as the world falls down and he's not here. The bastard LIED TO ME!"

Thirteen hours after Jareth fell, Sarah cried.

&%&%&%

The body was released after twenty-four hours to Jareth's family to be buried in the Labyrinth. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Molly Hooper who found the death to be (in simple terms) falling from a great height. It was quickly ruled a suicide by law enforcement.

Sarah was released under the care of her family after twenty-four hours to grieve at 221b Baker Street. She stayed in Jareth's room twenty-three hours out of twenty-four for a week and wore Jareth's clothes. There was no point in going out as she was banished from ever visiting the Underground by the High Court for conspiring with Jareth, the former Goblin King. Her friends of the Labyrinth could not visit her and she could not visit them.

&%&%&%

Three days later, Sarah began having nightmares. Eight days after Jareth died, she went out of the apartment to get some milk. Eleven days after Jareth's death, she tried to go to work but became ill at the sight of the building. On the thirteenth day, Sarah went into St. Bart's and performed a full shift.

&%&%&%

Three weeks after Jareth's death, Sarah's family went back to the United States.

&%&%&%

A month after the Fall, Sarah stopped having nightmares. She dreamed of Jareth and the life they could of had. They kept working on cases. They got married. They had children. (Sometimes their children were blonde and sometimes brunette, but they always smirked like Jareth did.) In some of the dreams, Jareth became the Goblin King again and they ruled together in peace. But always, always the two of them were happy and together.

Sarah much preferred the nightmares. They hurt less.

&%&%&%

Two months after Jareth passed away, Sarah came back to 221b from the night shift to find Christiana sitting in Jareth's seat.

"I really appreciated you visiting me so quickly," Sarah said sarcastically as she hung up her coat.

"Civil war has started. Sorry. I've been busy destroying entire kingdoms," Christiana said just as sarcastically.

Sarah put the kettle on. "I am sure destruction has made you thirsty Goblin King." Sarah sat down in her usual seat. "What do you want?"

"I came to say good-bye. There is a good chance I will not survive this war," Christiana said.

"Good-bye," Sarah said.

"Sarah, I also wanted to thank you."

"For what? Getting Jareth to kill himself in an attempt to rescue me?"

"He didn't do it just for you. I offered him a way out for the two of you and he said no because it would not protect the friends he has made in the human world. My guess is at least Sherlock and Toby if not Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, and John. They all would be dead along with you if Jareth didn't jump. Stop making yourself a martyr," Christiana said.

"I didn't know that." Sarah bit her lip.

Christiana covered her mouth with her hand in a way that made Sarah sharply remember Jareth doing the same motion. Christiana dropped her hand. "Did Jareth ever tell you how I came out of my grief for Sean?"

"No," Sarah said.

"Dante was the one who got me to eat. He begged me to stay alive because he did not want to live in a world without his sister. I wasn't really living though. Uncle Jareth, however, about three years after Sean's death dragged me to a play. It was awful. It was so awful we spent the entire time mocking it. I can't even remember what it was but… it worked. I started coming out of my room. When I would begin to shut down again, Uncle Jareth would drag me to another play or musical and eventually movies. That's why we were at your mother's play and that's why he met you."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sarah asked.

"I am saying that I have been where you are standing. It will always hurt. Anyone who says otherwise needs to have their foot sawed off and then asked to do a full length ballet. It will, however, become less of an all-consuming presence in your life. Some days, it will devour you. You need to grieve or else you will stop feeling anything at all and you will no longer be alive. Get someone to help you through this. Help someone else. And…"

"And?"

"…live or else the dreams you built together with that person will be meaningless." Christiana stood up. "I am sorry, but I must leave. Before I do though, I've brought you a gift." A crystal appeared in her hand.

Sarah gave a half-laugh and a half-sob. "What is it?"

"It's a crystal, nothing more. But when you hold it after I leave, an object will come to you that will both harm and comfort you." Christiana handed the crystal to Sarah. The Goblin King leaned towards Sarah and said softly, "Live, Champion of the Labyrinth. Farewell."

Sarah said in good will, "If you should need me, you need only call. Good-bye, Goblin King."

When the Goblin King left, the crystal popped. Jareth's green scarf was clean and in Sarah's hands. It still smelled like him and would continue to carry his scent for the next two years.

&%&%&%

Three days after the Goblin King left, Sarah was in Russell Square sitting on the grass where she and Jareth had picnicked the day Moriarty turned their world upside down. She was wearing her red and white striped hat but otherwise was just a woman in black. Sarah spoke to seemingly no one.

"I can't come to your grave. This is the best I can do. It was here that Stamford told me about some guy needing a roommate and the last place where we had unfettered joy. This is the closest thing to a memorial I can get.

"I talked with Mrs. Hudson, and we asked Sherlock and John to move into 221. John will have 221C and Sherlock will have his old room/my old room. They are both going to be working in London. Sherlock is going to figure out a way to solve crimes, even if Scotland Yard is no longer taking on consultants. John has a job lined up already. Sherlock is going to keep the bees with him. Apparently, it's legal to keep bees in London. Who knew?

"I don't know how your family is doing, but they are currently trying to overthrow Oberon. From what little I hear, the war would be over a lot faster if you were there. Rumor has it that now that you're gone, the family as a whole is weaker and thus their magic is not as strong. It might make your family lose.

"I'm… I know why you did it. I would do the same but… that doesn't mean… I am happy or not angry with you. I hurt… so much… all the time and I know… that… everyone feels the same way. The twins still cry sometimes. Toby is becoming more rebellious. Sherlock and John are trying to act tough but they're lousy about it. Lestrade and Molly seem to be scared to talk to me. Mrs. Hudson… Mrs. Hudson is acting like she has lost a child.

"I do… I still believe you know. I still believe in you. No one can tell me that you were a fake or that you were mad. It's not possible. Above all, no one can tell me that you weren't a good man. You were… the best… best… the best man I have ever known. You made me want… want to be better. You were my love, my home, my… bright star." Sarah wiped away the tears that were now falling down her face.

"I never told anyone… no one but you… how alone I could be. I never had someone who understood me like you did… I was so alone and I owe you so much."

Sarah stood up and continued trying not to cry. She said, "One more thing: one more miracle, Jareth for me. One more unreasonable expectation. Don't be... dead. Would you do that? Just for me. Please."

She touched the cross she wore. "I love you, Jareth. I'll love you forever, which isn't long at all. Good-bye."

&%&%&%

Unknown to Sarah, a man watched her from the trees. He heard everything and understood all her hurts. He did nothing and watched her go, though with every fiber of his being he wanted to chase after her and hold her close and tell her everything would be all right.

Jareth did not move until Sarah had left the park. He left in the opposite direction, making sure that he was never seen by the one he loved most.

&%&%&%

A/N: Once again, I hate you Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He killed off Sherlock Holmes for real. However, England LITERALLY went into mourning over the death of their detective. Once Doyle realized he made the most money off of Sherlock Holmes, he brought the good detective back to life for many more adventures.

This story went in a far different direction than I originally intended but three things remained essentially the same from my original outline. 1. When Jareth heals Sarah in "A Study in Glitter". 2. The pool scene in "The Goblin Games". 3. Jareth talking to Sarah before his Fall. Those three scenes were what kept me grounded and reminded me "This is not a story about murder. This is the story of two people who love each other and would give up everything to keep the other person safe."

Over the next few months, you may get one or two one-shots as well as the Holmes brothers' interactions with the Labyrinth.

Thank you for reading. If I am unable to complete the entire _Sherlock_ series, I will write a one-shot fic that tells how everyone ended up. If I am able to finish, the next chapter of our dynamic duo is "The Empty Crystal" a.k.a. "The Empty Hearse" which will (hopefully) be out a few weeks after Series Three is available in the U.S.

Thank you once again for reading through this.


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